Convergence
by Testing123456
Summary: Their love for Ash brought them back to him. But will it be strong enough to bring him back to himself?
1. Divergence

Author's Note

Dawn's Point-of-View

* * *

I waved my arm side to side above my head until the boat was a dot on the horizon. Then I realized that my arm was aching, people were staring, and Piplup was looking up at me sympathetically. I smiled despite the film of tears on my eyes, holding them back, knowing Ash wouldn't have wanted them to fall.

"[It'll be alright, Dawn. We'll definitely see him again.]" Piplup chirped. I got the gist of it. Over time, I'd come to understand what he was saying. After all, I'd learned from… from…

I blinked back tears. "You're right, Piplup. Thanks." I breathed deeply, then turned on my heel and started the walk home.

It wasn't a particularly long walk. But the monotony of each step and the weight of Piplup on my head dropped me into a trance. When I saw my house in the distance I ran for it enthusiastically, throwing open the door.

"I'm home, Mom!" I yelled.

Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron and smiling warmly. "Hey, Dawn. You're just in time for dinner."

I grinned. "Hear that, Ash? You can stuff your face full of Mom's wonderful cooking." I turned around for Ash's reaction, to find – nothing. It hit me for the second time that day like a ton of bricks. This time I couldn't stop the tears. I turned back to find Piplup concerned and Mom with a soft, understanding look in her eyes. But she didn't really understand – no one could.

"Listen, Dawn – " I didn't listen. I ran past Piplup and my mother and into my room, throwing myself on the bed and burying my face in my pillow, sobbing, trying to block everything out. But the image of a black-haired boy wouldn't let me. I heard the door creak open and felt Piplup's soft form snuggle against mine. My mom's soft footsteps followed, and I felt her weight depress the bed slightly. I turned my face in the opposite direction.

"Do you want to talk about it, Dawn?" Mom asked softly, rubbing my back soothingly.

"He – He was my best friend. And I just – I just let him go." I whispered, still not really believing it.

Mom's hand stopped on my back. Still dazed from shock, I didn't protest as she gently turned me around onto my back, face up on the bed. Then she carefully turned my face to meet her eyes. "He still _is_ your best friend." She said emphatically. "He may have left you in body, but you guys have such a strong friendship. No matter where – "

"That's not the point, Mom," I cut in, still upset but feeling a little more levelheaded. "We've journeyed together since the very beginning. His gym battles, my contests, there wasn't really a difference. It was _our_ journey – together." I felt a little bad for excluding Brock, seeing as he'd been there the whole time, too, but I had to be honest with myself about where my feelings were directed. "And I loved it, every second. I didn't want it to stop. It didn't have to, either. I could've gone with him back to his hometown and we – we could've done something together from there, but I just let him go. I could've, but I – I – "

Mom gripped my shoulders. "You what? You could've ignored Buneary's opportunity in the Poké Chic Magazine? You know you couldn't have done that to her. And even if you'd thought of it, Ash wouldn't have let you do it, either. Even if Buneary might've wanted to go with Pikachu herself."

I felt slightly better hearing her say that, and the reference towards Buneary's crush on Pikachu lightened the mood. Still…

"You're right, Mom. I guess I just wasn't ready to part with him after everything we went through together. I mean… Mom, you raised me. You taught me how to walk and how to speak and how to write. You gave me a home and most importantly, you were always there for me. Ash was kind of the same way. I started my life as a coordinator completely clueless, and he taught me how to get on my feet and communicate with Pokémon. We traveled together and trained together and he was there for me at all my contests."

I looked to my mom, feeling a little vulnerable after being so open. She was looking back at me, obviously understanding but a little shocked. She pursed her lips, then smiled.

"What?" I asked miserably. "You think that's funny?"

She laughed softly. "No, of course not, Dawn. I think it's beautiful that you had a relationship like that with him. But you're not sad. You're frustrated."

"Huh?" I asked, bewildered.

"You're frustrated because the way you see him isn't the same as the way you think you see him. It's that clash that's upsetting you. I'm sure part of it is that he left, but you're mature enough to understand you had to part ways. What you don't really understand is why that's hurting you so much." She said sagely.

I stared at her. What she was saying sounded so right, but my brain literally couldn't figure out what the implications of it were. "I – I don't understand."

She smiled. "Well, that's the problem, isn't it? Are you feeling a bit better, at least? Want to have some dinner?"

My stomach grumbled. She laughed, and I tried to, too, but honestly it only reminded me of Ash.

Mom was kind enough to avoid the topic of Ash throughout dinner. She asked about my travels with questions tailored to skirt Ash, and I appreciated that. Right now Ash Ketchum was nothing but the source of a major earthquake in my system, and I needed a break from how bad it was shaking me.

After dinner Glameow entertained Piplup while I helped Mom with the dishes. When we finished we both crashed on the couch and turned on the TV.

"And the recent Lily of the Valley conference has boasted better viewership than there's been in years, folks!" The reporter said. I felt the familiar pang, and I looked to Mom, but she was watching obliviously. "The battles were fast-paced, heated bouts of power play. I tell you, the trainers that come here are better every year. This year, the Final Four consisted of Ash Ketchum, Tobias – " Ash's picture flashed on screen, and I caught my breath as Mom's eyes widened and she scrambled for the remote. "Tobias did win the conference, but I tell you, folks, this Ash Ketchum character is one hot topic. He was the one competitor in the entire conference who not only bested Tobias' Darkrai, but also Tobias' second legendary Pokémon, Latios. Honestly, he should have been in the top two, but unfortunately for him the bracket worked out against his luck. Too bad, I say. Let's take a look at his battle – " Mom finally found the remote and switched to a channel showing old contests.

There was a momentary pause.

"Do you want to – "

"No."

"But – "

"No."

"Alright."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Of course, Dawn."

I lost myself in contests for a while. But the stress and shock of the day caught up with me. I said goodnight to Mom and made my way upstairs. I smiled at the sight of Piplup wrapped up in the covers, already asleep. I grabbed some pajamas and made my way into the bathroom to change. Once I'd finished I looked at myself in the mirror. I struck my victory pose, and held it for a second. Then, unable to stop myself, I tried Ash's victory pose. I smiled softly to myself, thinking that Ash always had a bit of a flamboyant flair, and that if I'd grown up with him I might've convinced him to become a coordinator. Then I laughed, dropping the pose and shaking my head. To imagine Ash as anything other than a trainer – it was impossible.

I switched off the lights and found my way to the bed, pulling some of the covers away from Piplup. Once I'd settled in I looked up at the ceiling. It was nice to have a warm bed, but it certainly wasn't as good as camping out with your friends, or… sleeping under the stars… with Ash.

I remembered how I used to sleep in my tent when I began my journey and how eventually I abandoned it to sleep outside with Ash. I started sobbing all over again.

There was suddenly a flash of light and the unmistakable sound of a Poké Ball opening. A shape made its way over to the bed and under the covers with me, embracing me tightly. I smiled through my tears. Ambipom. Ash's Pokemon. He'd traded her to me for Buizel.

Ambipom held me in her embrace, rubbing my back with her hands soothingly. She then said something which I shouldn't have been able to understand, seeing as Piplup had been my first Pokemon and I still didn't understand him completely, but I did, and perfectly.

"[Ash never really leaves his friends. He's with you now in spirit, and I know you'll definitely see him again. You will. Trust me.]"

And I did.


	2. No Regrets

Author's Note

Dawn's POV

* * *

"Dawn! Wake up!" I heard Mom shout. I groaned, rolling over in my bed. This was a mistake as the sun now had a direct path into my eyes. I blinked rapidly, squinting and trying to cover my face. Well, there went my chance to ignore her and go back to sleep.

My door was pushed open and Mom entered innocently. "Oh? You're up?"

I huffed, sitting up in bed. "Yes, I'm up. And your shouting had nothing to do with it," I said sarcastically.

Mom's lips twitched. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I guess if you're grumpy you can go back to bed. Your mail can wait."

I turned around involuntarily. I didn't get mail often. The last time I did had been a few weeks ago – a copy of the Poké Chic magazine in which Buneary had starred. We had gone for her photo shoot about a week before that, and not only were the pictures great, but it had turned out to be a lot of fun. Both she and I had been excited for the magazine to arrive – when it did, we were the talk of the town and, in fact, the entire fashion world for a short time. But after that I hadn't been expecting any mail.

"What is it?" I asked.

Mom frowned, turning a manila envelope over in her hands. "I'm not sure. It looks kind of official. There's even a logo on here, but it's not one I recognize."

I got up from the bed. "Let me see."

"Uh uh uh, not so fast, young lady. First brush your teeth, then have some breakfast, and then you get it."

I couldn't believe that she would do that to me. But even after my worst glares (which apparently Piplup found funny) she wouldn't budge, so I decided to just do what she said. Sometimes my mom could be so evil.

I brushed faster than a Rapidash and wolfed my food down faster than a Snorlax. My mom cringed a bit and muttered something about table etiquette, but once my plate was in the sink – no, the dishwasher – she handed over the envelope.

I took it and turned it over in my hands. Where the "From" address would usually be printed was the name "Future Trajectories, Inc." accompanied by the logo my mom had spoken of, a spaceship blasting off the Earth with humans and Pokémon visible inside.

I opened the envelope. Inside, there was but one sheet of paper, crisp and fresh as if it had just been printed. I pulled it out and found it was a letter. It read:

"Dear Dawn,

Future Trajectories, Inc. is pleased to announce the opening of its new venture: PokéCamp! PokéCamp is a program designed for the purpose of advancing Pokémon research and bringing humans and Pokémon closer together on the whole. The camp imitates a university setting: Pokémon trainers, coordinators, breeders, doctors, stylists, and researchers from all over the world will come together with their Pokémon and participate in activities designed to foster human-Pokémon interaction. Behind the scenes of PokéCamp, Future Trajectories, Inc. hopes to gather information about these interactions to advance the world's understanding of Pokémon and better fashion technology geared towards helping Pokémon and their trainers interact. For the first ever PokéCamp, we're inviting only the best and brightest in their fields from across the world, and we believe you're among those people. For your outstanding performances in the Sinnoh contests and the Sinnoh Grand Festival, we would like to extend an invitation for you to attend PokéCamp! The experience is free and all your expenses will be paid for. While the final decision to attend will be up to you, we believe even someone as accomplished as yourself has something to gain from the experiences and interactions you will have at PokéCamp! Remember, the best in all the Pokémon fields from across the world will be coming, and we're confident you'll find something here that will engage you. If you decide to come, simply register at the website listed below. We hope you do!"

The letter was signed by a name I couldn't discern. My mind was spinning. I'd been invited to a gathering of the best and brightest of all those involved with Pokémon from all over the world. I was giddy with excitement - it was an honor to be included among those ranks. And to get the chance to meet all those other people, to learn more about coordinating straight from the best, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Mom had taken the letter from me and she now put it down having read it. She smiled warmly, "Congratulations, Dawn! You certainly deserve it."

I smiled, hugging her. "Thanks, Mom. But shouldn't you have gotten one, too? You're a famous coordinator with a lot more wins than me."

Mom smiled. "That's sweet of you, Dawn, but this looks like frontline research. They probably want people who're actively involved with Pokémon right now for their information gathering, and I retired quite a while ago." She paused for a moment, looking at me. "Well, do you want to go?"

I thought about it seriously. It was a huge honor, and it sounded like lots of fun. On the other hand, I'd just gotten back from a long journey and I wanted to spend time with Mom. Was it fair to leave her and to just waltz out after I just came home? But then again, she'd made it clear that I could make independent decisions about my journeys. She just wanted me to have the best experience with Pokémon and coordinating that I could and she probably wouldn't appreciate me compromising that, even if I thought it was for her. It was an all-expenses paid trip, so there was nothing to worry about there.

And there was one thing that'd been nagging me. The letter had expressly stated that the best and brightest from all the fields from all over the world were being invited for PokéCamp. I had qualified even being merely a runner up in a major coordinating event. So, if that had gotten me an invitation, then for a trainer the equivalent would be a top spot in a major training event – that is, one of the league conferences. My mind started spinning again. That meant, for certain, that Ash would've received one of these invitations! And being Ash, he couldn't turn down an invitation to a gathering of such strong trainers – he would most definitely accept the invitation. Ash would be there…

"Yes, Mom, I'd like to go, if that's alright with you."

Mom beamed. "Of course it's alright." She moved toward me and cupped my cheeks in her hands."Ohh, I'm so proud of you, Dawn. Look how far you've come."

"Thanks, Mom. But I couldn't have done any of it without you." We stood like that for a moment, and I couldn't remember the last time we'd been like this. As much as I missed travelling, boy, was it nice to be home.

Mom stepped back suddenly and put her hands on her hips. Well, let's not delay." She pointed to her laptop on the table. "Let's get you registered."

The website listed in the letter was very professionally made and easy to use. It pointed me to a form with basic information I had to fill out. I submitted the form and then checked for the confirmation e-mail. I opened it up and found it contained an ID number that I'd have to present to get my PokeCamp ID as well as the location at which PokeCamp would be held. Method of transportation was apparently my choice, and I'd be reimbursed afterwards. I looked at the address. It was in Kanto! Ash's hometown was there. He could probably show me around, take me to his town, and we could spend lots of time –

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was getting ahead of myself; I still didn't even know for sure if Ash was going. It would be hard, but I had to focus on taking this trip for my Pokémon and me, and just be pleasantly surprised if Ash was there, too.

I looked at the date listed for the start of the camp and raised my eyebrows. "Well, they certainly aren't wasting any time. The camp starts in a few days. That's barely enough time for me to get there."

Mom turned the computer towards her and started doing something. "Yeah, but most league conferences and regional festivals just finished, so the people these invitations are directed towards are probably pretty unoccupied around this time. There should be nothing barring anyone from just signing up right away and going over. Here, I'm booking your ticket right now. … And, there."

I looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Since it was all expenses paid, Mom had gotten a ticket on the most luxurious ship she could find. I shook my head, grinning. "Well, when's it for?"

Mom smiled. "This afternoon."

"WHAT? But I haven't even packed yet! I have to get my clothes and my combs and I have to pick out outfits in case there are special events and I probably have to pack my ribbons in case I need to prove that I should be there and I have to clean my Poké Balls and –"

Mom stood up and put her hands on my shoulders. "Dawn, you'll be fine. I'll help you with everything and it's really not that much if we work together. Geez, you weren't this panicked when you first left on your journey!"

I turned heel and headed for my room to pack. "Well, I knew before the morning of that I'd be going on a journey, didn't I? That might've been part of it." I said, flustered.

"Oh, come on. That's not it. Are you….nervous?"

I threw open my closet and started pulling out my travel gear. "What? Why would I be?" Please don't guess, please don't guess.

Mom was in the bathroom, packing toiletries. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe certain people will be there who you may want to meet very badly, just maybe?"

She guessed. Uggh, why did she know me so well? I finished pulling clothes out of my closet and started folding them into a suitcase. I decided to not even answer her as lying was a bad idea and telling the truth was out of the question.

She came out of the bathroom with the bag of toiletries in her hand and placed them in my suitcase. "You're hoping to see Ash, aren't you?"

I didn't answer. This time it was just because I didn't want my voice to crack. Mom giggled. "You know, you're right, he'll probably be there. But be careful. I hear teenage boys can get kind of wild at camp." I blushed and turned my face away under the guise of shining my Poké Balls.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then." Mom said, smiling. "We'll leave for the dock in a couple of hours. If you need any more help, just call. But you should be fine on time… as long as you don't do too much daydreaming." I gave her my best glare as she left, which only seemed to make her laugh harder.

Sure enough, I finished packing on time and loaded my suitcase into the car. After lunch, Mom drove as we both sat in silence. When we reached the dock, the ferry was already there. I unloaded my suitcase and stood with Mom on the dock for a while. Then Mom hugged me.

"Be careful, Dawn, and have fun. Keep in touch." She pulled away from me, and I noticed a watery film on her eyes.

I gave my best grin. "I will. No need to worry, Mom." I gave her a quick peck on the cheek and took my suitcase, moving to board.

"Dawn!" I turned. She was looking straight into my eyes. "If he's there, no regrets this time, ok?"

I stood frozen for a second, then smirked. "You bet." We nodded to each other and I boarded the ferry. I waved until Mom was out of sight, and then made my way to the prow, watching the beautiful sunset and thinking over Mom's final line of advice.

Ambipom appeared from her Poké Ball and sat on the railing of the ship, covering my hand with one of hers. I smiled at her, and decided not fool myself anymore about my main reason for this trip. Sure, there were lots of new people to meet, but I was really just hoping to meet one I already knew.

_I'm coming, Ash. This time, no regrets._


	3. PokéCamp

Author's Note

Dawn's POV

* * *

I wandered the boat aimlessly. There was no mistaking the fact that this was a luxury cruise liner. There was a ballroom, a swimming pool, endless food, and waiters and waitresses everywhere. Still, it felt like there was nothing to do. I wanted to be in Kanto as fast as possible. I saw a man in a striped white and black shirt with a blue scarf around his neck walking across the deck. I walked towards him.

"Excuse me, sir. Could you tell me when we'll be arriving in Kanto?"

"Of course, little miss. If all goes according to plan, we'll be docking in Vermilion City by tomorrow evening. Anything else you need?"

"No, that's all, thanks very much." The sailor nodded and walked off, and I sighed. To be able to make it from Sinnoh to Kanto in a day meant we must be traveling at a breakneck speed. Even so, it still felt like it was too slow. To make it worse, I knew no one on this ship. Half of the passengers were rich people on vacation; the other half seemed to be top ranked Pokémon specialists whom I didn't know, but who all seemed to know each other. As enthusiastic as I was to meet them, it was a little awkward and intimidating being the only one who seemed to know no one. I had decided to wait until PokéCamp to start meeting new people.

I made my way back to my room and flopped onto my king-sized bed. Piplup had challenged Ambipom to a Ping-Pong battle hours ago and they were still at it. I put my arms behind my bed and turned to watch them, noticing that Piplup was bruised and tired while Ambipom looked fresh. I giggled to myself. If you added Ambipom's two tails with the fact that she had trained under the Ping-Pong expert O, poor Piplup stood little chance. That reminded me…

"Hey, Ambipom!"

Ambipom looked toward me expectantly. Even with her head turned, she was still rallying the ball perfectly, which seemed to frustrate Piplup.

I held back a giggle for Piplup's sake. "We're docking in Vermilion City, you know. That's where the Ping Pong Center you trained at is, right?"

Ambipom's eyes brightened and she nodded vigorously. In her excitement she hit the ball rather hard, sending it straight into Piplup's face and ending the rally. It was apparently the game-winning point as well, because Piplup threw down his paddle, stomped on it several times, and then dejectedly made his way to the bed, tucking himself in and turning away from us.

Ambipom and I laughed. "Well, I guess we'd all better turn in. Got a long day tomorrow. But, Ambipom, I was going to say that if we have some time we can pay the Center a visit. We could see O and maybe get a few matches of Ping-Pong in. Would you like that?"

Ambipom did a few flips and clapped her hands and tails together happily. She then jumped up and hugged me tightly. "I'll take that as a yes." I laughed.

We tucked in together and drifted off to sleep. All the while, my thoughts were fixated on what would happen tomorrow…

* * *

I rushed about trying to get my things in order. All day I'd been thinking about getting to Kanto, and now that we were almost there I wasn't even ready!

The ship's horn blared. "All passengers: please gather your belonging and make your way to the main deck. If you need assistance with your luggage feel free to call room service and someone will be there to assist you. We will be docking in Kanto's Vermilion City in 5 minutes."

I threw my toiletries into the suitcase and zipped it up. Piplup handed me my beanie and Ambipom got me my Pokétch. I put both on.

"Thanks, guys. Now let's hurry." Ambipom returned to her Poké Ball. Piplup took a little more coaxing, but he got in eventually; he usually stayed out, but I didn't want to lose track of him since I'd be in a new place and we could easily get separated. I grabbed my suitcase and made my way to the main deck. And just in time. The ship was pulling up to port; I could already see sailors tying it to the dock with thick cords of rope.

I referenced the information stored on my Pokétch: apparently the PokéCamp was being held a ways outside Vermilion. Looked conveniently like walking distance. I was impressed. Obviously the people behind the PokéCamp had thought this through. Since Vermilion was Kanto's only port city, most people coming from any other region by boat would have to dock here. The placement of the PokéCamp then made land travel very easy for them – just a short walk out of the city. People coming from inside Kanto would probably be familiar with the geography anyway, so they wouldn't have much trouble finding their way. It was made easy for everyone by design.

The crowd gathered on the main deck suddenly started moving. I moved with it. I couldn't see much, but soon I could feel the ramp connecting the boat to the dock under my feet, and then the wood of the dock – I was officially in the Kanto region.

As soon as I was free of the crowd I took a deep breath and took stock of my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was what a clear blue the water was – it was pristine, beautiful, obviously carefully and deliberately kept unpolluted. It took my breath away. I stood staring at it for a while.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice suddenly said, making me jump. "This water nearly rivals Cerulean's."

I looked to my side to find a girl about my age with fiery orange hair tied to the side in a ponytail. She was wearing a yellow sleeveless vest with a large blue button in the middle with matching yellow shorts. When she turned to face me, I was startled to find that her eyes were the same color as the water I'd just been admiring.

"Sorry if I scared you," she said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "It's just rare to find someone else who would stop in the middle of all this hustle and bustle to just admire the water. But where are my manners? My name is Misty: I'm the leader of the Cerulean City Gym." She extended a hand out to me.

I took it, shocked. "I'm Dawn, a Pokémon Coordinator. Wait, you're a Gym Leader? But you can't be much older than me! You must be incredibly skilled to be a Leader at such a young age."

Misty blushed, winked, and put two fingers in a victory sign. "Well, what can I say? Hahaha."

I was suddenly hit with a wave of déjà vu. She'd seemed familiar from the start, but when she struck that pose I felt like I'd definitely seen her before. But where…?

Misty pulled me out of my reverie. "So, you're a Pokémon coordinator. I have a friend who's a Coordinator who actually might be in town. Speaking of, could it be possible that you're in town for the PokéCamp?"

"Yeah, I am!" I said excitedly. "Wait, being such an accomplished trainer, you're probably here for it, too, right?"

Misty laughed. "You flatter me, Dawn. But yeah, that's why I'm here." She looked around. "Hey, if you're not traveling with anyone, want to come with me? It's not a long walk, but it'd be kind of nice to have someone to talk to."

I was thrilled. Just got off the ship and I'd already met a strong trainer who was friendly to boot! I still couldn't place where I'd seen Misty before, but I didn't let it bother me. She seemed like someone I could become good friends with.

"I'd love to. But you know the way? I'm from the Sinnoh region, so I don't know much about this place."

"Yeah, I know the way. I guess you wouldn't know off the top of your head, but Cerulean City's also in Kanto, so I've come to Vermilion before. Misty turned and started walking, waving at me to fall in line next to her. "So, you're from Sinnoh? I have a friend who was recently traveling in Sinnoh. What's it like there?"

"Hmm. I'm from a quaint little town called Twinleaf which is pretty calm and quiet. But Sinnoh is pretty varied: you get cities like Sunyshore where you could be in a bikini year round and then you have cities like Snowpoint where there's not a day of the year without snow on the ground. And of course there's the famous Mt. Coronet." I shivered, remembering my experiences there. "I actually recently finished a journey of the entire region. All in all, it's a nice place."

"You just finished a journey?" Misty turned to look at me. "I used to journey around Kanto with some good friends. It was lots of fun. Can't be much of a different experience in Sinnoh as far as the fun is concerned. You must have been participating in contests, right?" She looked at me curiously.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Right, I was competing in contests all over the region. I eventually got my five ribbons and made it to the Grand Festival."

"Oh, yeah? That's great! How'd you place?"

"I was runner-up," I said proudly.

Misty patted me on the back. "Hey, congratulations! You should have told me earlier that I was traveling with a Top Coordinator!" She laughed.

I blushed. "Oh, I've still got a long ways to go until I'm a Top Coordinator, but thanks, Misty. Hey, what about you? You're obviously a strong trainer, but any backstory? Reasons for coming to the PokéCamp?"

Misty looked thoughtful. "Backstory? Well, like I said, I traveled around Kanto the same way you traveled around Sinnoh, only I wasn't looking for Gym Badges or Contest Ribbons; I wanted to – well, I still want to – become the world's greatest Water Pokémon Trainer, and I thought the experience of traveling, battling, and meeting new Pokémon was the way to do it. And boy did I get an experience!" Her eyes lit up when she said this. "But see, my sisters were the Gym Leaders of the Cerulean Gym before me and they wanted to go on a world tour." Misty rolled her eyes. "So obviously they left and gave the responsibility of the Gym to me. Which meant I had to stop traveling." Misty sighed sadly. "I haven't given up on my dream, but I feel like my progress has slowed down a lot. I guess I'm here to learn as much as I can and test myself to see how much closer I am to my goal. And…" She paused.

"And…?" I goaded.

Misty looked at me and smiled. "Well, to be honest with you, Dawn, part of the reason I'm here is to see one of my old traveling companions and good friends. I'm pretty sure he'll be here. It's been a while and I really want to see him." She said eagerly.

I looked back at her. "Funny. I have a good friend I'm here to see as well."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence. Let's hope we both meet who we're looking for."

I fell back a bit, lost in thought. The feeling that I'd seen Misty before had suddenly started nagging at me again. Where could I have –

I suddenly knocked into Misty, who must've stopped for something.

"Oops, sorry, Misty."

"No biggie. Dawn, look."

I followed Misty's line of sight to the reason why she'd stopped. In front of us was a huge complex, filled with buildings and bustling with people and Pokémon alike. Even from a distance, I could make out the logo that'd been on my invitation envelope on many of the buildings.

"Could it be?" I stared, unbelieving. I'd been expecting something grand, but this was incredible. To think this was such an important and well-funded event…

I looked to Misty and was taken aback by the intensity of her expression. The look on her face suddenly made me think of the look that must've been on my face when I'd stood on the boat yesterday leaving Sinnoh.

"Yes," said Misty. "That must be PokéCamp."

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/02/13, by 2:00 PM UTC


	4. Reunions

Author's Note

Dawn's POV

* * *

Misty and I walked through the gates of PokéCamp. Yes, gates. It seemed like overkill, but then so did the stone wall coming off the gates and wrapping around the length of the entire complex. PokéCamp was built like a fortress. It gave me an uneasy feeling, but then again, it was probably for security, which was a good thing. This would probably be the largest gathering of the best Pokémon trainers around ever, which made it a goldmine for thieves. Security was a good idea.

"Incredible," said Misty in awe, looking around the compound.

I could only nod as I took in the sights. We were standing on a trail that led straight up to the largest building on the campus, a huge dome with the logo of Future Trajectories, Inc. on the top. The trail itself seemed a half mile long. Hugging the stone wall surrounding the compound were a bunch of identical looking buildings spaced evenly; each building had several floors and I noticed that there seemed to be balconies as well, which meant those buildings probably had the rooms where trainers would stay. But inside the ring of housing buildings all bets were off. Structures of differing sizes were strewn about the grounds haphazardly. As I looked closer I saw that these were everything from spas to shops to theaters to Pokéblock and Poffin baking centers.

"What should we do?" I asked Misty. I could barely restrain the kid in me, who remembered this experience was completely free and saw the variety of things to do. Misty was a Gym Leader, though; she would be more focused and levelheaded.

"Ooooh, is that a fishing shop?" Or not. Misty moved towards the fishing shop as if drawn by a magnet. I caught her by the shoulder.

"Actually, we should probably get registered. The camp starts tomorrow officially, and I don't want to not be able to get our IDs because we were late."

Misty seemed to snap out of her reverie. "Yeah, you're right. Let's head to that huge dome. We can probably find someone to help us in there."

On the way, we passed by scores of trainers with their friends and their Pokémon, casually walking in and out of buildings – everyone seemed to be having lots of fun and I couldn't wait to get in on it. Misty seemed to share my sentiment and without saying anything to each other we broke into a soft jog, keeping pace with one another.

The trail was more like a quarter mile than a half mile, but it still took us a few minutes to make it to the dome. We entered, breathing a little hard.

The inside of the dome was as impressive as the outside. It was a state-of-the-art building, well-lighted and simply furnished, with lots of open space and a crisp, clean feel. There was a desk in the middle of the room we were in; on either side of it was a row of turnstiles which barred entry to the rest of and vast majority of the dome. Behind the desk in the center of the room was a single woman dressed in pink, which made the whole thing remind me of a Pokémon Center.

But what made it seem even more like a Pokémon Center was the figure kneeling at the desk with his hands clasped pleadingly towards the woman and hearts for eyes. The man had tan skin, spiky hair, and wore gray cargo pants and an orange-grey vest over a green-collared shirt. I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. I should've guessed Brock would be here.

I was partly still caught by surprise and partly waiting for Croagunk to come out to make the whole thing official, but Misty was suddenly stomping forward. Her expression seemed irritated but her mouth kept twitching like she wanted to laugh.

Misty stomped straight up to Brock, took him by the ear in one hand, and started dragging him away from the bewildered lady. She dragged him a good twenty feet away before dropping the poor guy in a heap and crossing her arms. I walked over, curious. I knew Misty well enough already to know she wasn't rude. I could see her as being straightforward or brash, but to do that to a complete stranger? Did she not like how long Brock was taking? Did she think Brock was harassing the woman? Did she -?

"Hmph. You haven't changed at all, have you, Brock?"

Did she know Brock?

"Ow ow ow ow. Max was the last person to do that to me, but the only person who could do it with that intensity," Brock said, sitting up and turning towards his assailant, "is none other than Misty Waterflower." Brock grinned and stood up, dusting himself off. He opened his arms a little and Misty tackled him in a hug.

Brock knew her, too? This was too good.

"It's good to see you, Misty." Brock said.

Misty pulled away from the hug and looked Brock squarely in the face. "It's been too long, Brock. Don't you know how to keep in touch?"

Misty looked angry for a second but then burst out laughing, joined by Brock. Well, they seemed to be good friends. But I bet Misty didn't know Brock like I did. It was about time I said hello.

"Brock!" I called.

Brock turned around and his eyes lit up. "Hey, Dawn!" We shared a hug. "It's good to see you here, Dawn. I'm glad they recognized you for your achievements," said Brock.

Good old supportive Brock. "Thanks, Brock. And I should've expected you to be here, with your past as a Gym Leader and your skills as a breeder." Brock smiled.

The three of us now stood facing each other. Brock was all smiles, but Misty and I were both a little curious. Misty spoke up first. "Brock, I just met Dawn in the dock at Vermilion. You know her already?"

I wasn't about to let myself be the odd one out. Surely I knew Brock better than Misty. We'd traveled the entirety of Sinnoh, together, after all. "I was about to say the same thing. Brock, you know Misty?"

Misty and I both stood staring at Brock, waiting for a response. Brock, meanwhile, was looking back and forth between us, puzzled. Then something seemed to dawn on him and he smiled broadly.

We expected him to start answering our questions but instead he burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha ha, this is too funny, ha ha ha, oh this is great. Oh, he'd get a kick out of this. Ha ha – Owww!"

Misty had produced a mallet seemingly out of nowhere and given Brock a good hit upside the head. Brock frowned, rubbing his chin. "Geesh, and you say I haven't changed at all."

Misty's lips twitched but her expression remained irritated. "Well, Brock, explain."

The smile returned to Brock's face. "I have a better idea. Come with me. Actually, first, get yourselves checked in over there so you have your IDs."

Misty seemed impatient and I couldn't tell whether Brock was purposely trying to prolong the suspense or he was just being logical. Either way, Misty and I quickly signed in and we were given nice, plastic, personalized photo ID cards.

"Alright, now come with me." Brock strode out of the dome with Misty and me on his heels. I was sure a few questions directed at Misty would solve the mystery but I was curious to see what Brock would show us. Misty seemed to be thinking the same as we both tried to keep up with our taller friend.

"Ahh, here it is." Brock stopped outside the Pokéblock bakery I had seen earlier. Beside it was a Poffin shop. Both were types of Pokémon food used by coordinators, and I wondered why Brock was taking us inside a Pokéblock shop when I knew he was familiar with Poffins. Brock pushed open the door to the shop and walked in.

We followed him, but Misty looked exasperated. "Brock, can't you just tell us? What's with all this – "

She stopped in front of me. She must have seen something. I moved next to her to find what – or rather, who – she was looking at. I grinned.

The figure wore an orange sleeveless zip-up with a black collar, black bike shorts, black and white biker gloves, and a green bandana. She had brown hair in two bunches to the sides of her head and sapphire blue eyes. It was May.

For the second time that day Misty beat me to the punch. "May!" she called and ran to the brunette's side. When May saw Misty she seemed surprised but happy. The two clasped hands and then hugged each other excitedly.

"Misty!" said May eagerly. "It's so good to see you again!"

Brock and I walked up. I realized that May and Brock had probably already met up that day, because May didn't look surprised to see him but squealed when she saw me. "Dawn! You're here!" I grinned and we hugged.

"I was hoping we'd get to meet again. The Wallace Cup was too short an event for us to get to know each other properly." I said, smiling.

"You bet," said May.

Brock cleared his throat. "May, funny thing. I met Misty and Dawn at the front desk; they traveled here together from Vermilion City. But they haven't properly met, if you know what I mean."

Brock looked at May expectantly. May looked back, obviously unsure of what Brock meant. But then she looked back and forth between us and something seemed to click. She giggled.

"Oh, is that so? Wow, this is priceless. Too bad we can't take a picture of this moment."

Misty was really getting frustrated. "Alright, if one of you two doesn't spill it right now, Brock's going to get it."

"Hey!" Brock protested.

May laughed. "Well, we can't have that. I might as well do the honors. Dawn, Misty, you're both wondering how each other knows Brock and me so well, right?"

Misty and I nodded vigorously.

"Well," May said, "maybe you two should reintroduce yourselves to each other, but this time, tell each other a little more about your travels."

"Huh?" Misty and I were confused.

"My travels?" Misty said. "I already told Dawn about them. Well, I guess I didn't mention Johto or the Orange Islands. Is that it? Ok. So Dawn, I traveled Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto during my travels, along with my good friend Brock, whom you seem to know already, and a trainer named Ash."

I froze. May and Brock grinned widely. I wanted to bash myself in the head. Misty had been one of Ash's old traveling companions. Of course! That's why Misty looked so familiar! Ash had a fishing lure Misty had made in her own likeness that he used and I'd seen it before! And May knew Misty because Misty had probably visited Ash, Brock, and her while they were traveling in Hoenn the same way May had visited Ash, Brock, and me while we were traveling Sinnoh! That's why everyone seemed to know each other except Misty and me! I felt the need to laugh but Misty was looking at me, bewildered that I now seemed to be in on it, too.

I smiled. "And I already told Misty about my travels but I guess I neglected a few details. So Misty, I traveled the Sinnoh region with my good friend Brock, whom you already seem to know, as well as another small town trainer by the name of Ash Ketchum."

Misty froze, staring at me. Brock, May, and I laughed. We watched as the gears turned in Misty's head and she connected the dots.

"Ohh. That makes perfect sense now. You traveled Sinnoh with Ash and Brock. Why didn't I guess it earlier?" Misty smiled at me. "So, the person you were hoping to meet…?"

"Yes," I said, trying to hide my blush from the curious stares from Brock and May. "And you as well…?"

"Yup," said Misty, confidently.

I could feel May about to ask what we were talking about, when suddenly the door to the shop flew open.

"Are you done yet, May?" A young boy with blue hair and glasses entered the shop, followed by a taller, green-haired boy with a red bandana. "Tracey and I have toured the entire camp at least twice in the time you've spent here."

"Max? Tracey?" Misty seemed to know both of the boys, and they quickly shared hugs. I was introduced to both: apparently Tracey had been Ash's traveling companion during his time in the Orange Islands when Brock couldn't accompany him, and Max was May's little brother who'd traveled with them during their time in Hoenn. I was happy to meet them, but I suddenly felt the least connected to Ash since everyone else seemed to know each other. If only Ash were here…

Brock seemed to read my mind. "Well, we've nearly assembled the entire traveling crew across all the regions. There one little thing missing, though."

"Little?" I asked. "You're being sarcastic, right, Brock?"

Misty snorted. "No, he meant it literally. 'Little' is right."

May smiled. "Oh come on, Misty. You don't mean that. Anyways, Ash is taller than you now and I bet you know it well." Misty blushed.

"Alright, alright, guys. Yes, Dawn, I was being sarcastic. Let me try it again." Brock took a deep breath for effect and we all smiled.

"Does anyone know where Ash is?"

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/03/13, by 2:00 AM UTC


	5. Cool Rooms

Author's Note

Dawn's POV

* * *

We made our way out of the Pokéblock shop and stood beside the trail, wondering what to do.

"So nobody has seen Ash yet?" I asked. Everybody shook their heads.

Ash was usually the leader. In his absence, Brock took the reins. "Don't worry about it, guys, he'll definitely be here. A trainer with his experience had to have been invited, and this is too juicy an opportunity for Ash to pass up. Being Ash, he's probably just late."

Everyone grinned at this. It seemed that Ash had not changed in some respects across all his travels, because everyone seemed to be able to relate to his unorganized clumsiness.

Misty snorted. She seemed to do that a lot. "I'll be surprised if he even makes it here at all without you guiding him, Brock. There's no way he would've made it through Kanto or Johto without the two of us."

Brock laughed. "Alright, now that we're all happy having bashed Ash, why don't we go back to my room to relax and talk?"

"Sounds good," said Misty. Everyone agreed and we fell in step behind Brock as he led the way to one of the dorms near the wall. Above the door the number "1" was written. Brock swiped his card to let us all in. "Anyone else rooming here?" he asked.

We all pulled out our ID cards. I looked at mine. Underneath my picture was some information about my housing. "I'm in building 4," I found.

"Building 2," said Misty.

"Same here," said Tracey.

"3 for Max and me," said May.

"Hmm…," said Brock. "It's alright, we can see each other whenever we want anyway. Let's see… I'm in room 659, let's take the elevator."

We took the elevator to the 6th floor and Brock scanned his card to unlock the room. I heard him whistle as he entered.

"Wooaah," said Max. 'Woah' was right. The room was just for Brock, but it was huge. Four-poster bed, plasma TV, balcony, Jacuzzi, mini-bar – the works. My room on the luxury cruise liner seemed dull and drab compared with this.

May was jumping up and down. "Oooh, I bet all the rooms are like this! This is like a dream come true!" She stopped jumping. "But…" She moved toward the mini-bar as we all watched expectantly.

With a flourish she opened one of the drawers. There was a pause and then she resumed jumping, clapping her hands. "Oooh! The mini-bar has noodles! This is a dream come true!"

We all sweatdropped. Once May had finished getting googly-eyed over her noodles, we all got comfortable around the room.

There was an awkward silence. In the past half hour I'd come to realize how much Ash drove the group. Without him it was obvious something was missing.

Brock picked up the slack again. "So did everyone get an invitation from these 'Future Trajectories' guys recently, listing some kind of special achievement for which you were recognized?"

"Yup," I said. "For me it said it was because of the Sinnoh Grand Festival."

Brock nodded. "Yeah, for me it said it was because of my experience as a Gym Leader."

"Yeah, same," said Misty.

"Our Dad got one for the same reason," said May, "but he said the number of trainers coming through Hoenn has increased lately he didn't want to leave the Gym under a substitute for so long. Plus he didn't want to leave Mom all alone. So he called in and they let him send Max in his stead. I got my letter because of my placement in the Hoenn and Johto Festivals."

Tracey was last. "I was on vacation when I got mine. They said it was for my Pokémon research. So I bet Professor Oak and Gary got invitations, too, but I didn't get to talk to them."

Brock nodded. "So what the letter said checks out. We're all involved with Pokémon differently but we're all here for our skill level. Which is great, but does anyone know anything about these guys who put it together?"

Light flashed across Max's glasses as he adjusted them and cleared his throat. "Future Trajectories Inc. They're very mysterious. Dad showed me the invitation and they seemed cheery and sincere enough, but when I did some of my own research I found absolutely no history on them."

"No history at all?" Tracey asked. "That's impossible. A startup company couldn't put something like this together. The level of funding required would be impossible."

Max nodded. "Exactly. I dug a little deeper but I found nothing. Even after using Dad's credentials to access classified archives."

We all sweatdropped and May smacked Max behind the head. "Max! Did you even ask Dad?"

Max grinned sheepishly. "Well, no. But that's beside the point! The point is that either these guys just started up and had some wealthy benefactors, or someone went through a lot of trouble to erase any information connected to them. Either way it's kind of mysterious."

There was an uneasy silence. Personally, I thought we were seeing trouble where there was none. I guess there was nothing wrong with being wary, but we should just try to enjoy the experience. There really was no need to worry.

I opened my mouth to voice my opinion, but was cut off by a beeping sound from the wall. May and Max nearly jumped out of their skin. "You have one new message." A computerized voice said.

Brock stood up from where he was sitting and walked over to an LCD screen built into the wall opposite the bed. A picture of an envelope was flashing, and Brock touched it with his finger.

There was a beeping sound and we walked behind Brock as the message opened. Brock squinted, reading it over. "Looks like this is my schedule."

"Let me see!" said Max. "Hmm… Pokémon Seminar first thing followed by Pokémon Breeding. A one hour lunch break, then Pokémon Medicine and finally a Battling Seminar. Afterwards you can do whatever. Sweet schedule, Brock."

"Yeah," Brock looked pleased. "It seems the organizers did their homework. The Breeding and Medicine classes fall in with my interests while Battling corresponds with my duty as Gym Leader. The Seminar is probably general and for everyone."

"I wonder what I got," I thought aloud.

"Since we're both coordinators, there's a good chance we'll have some of the same things in our schedules," May said excitedly.

I grinned. "That'd be great!"

"Maybe I'll see the Professor or Gary in some of my classes," said Tracey.

Brock stepped in. "Alright, guys, you probably got messages like this to each of your rooms. Plus it's getting late and we want to be fresh for tomorrow. So how about we break up for today and meet during lunch tomorrow?"

"Sounds good," said Misty. "But where will we meet?"

"How about right outside the huge dome?" I suggested. "That should be pretty easy to find for everyone."

Everyone agreed and we filed out of Brock's room, bidding him good night. We made our way out of the building, walking in silence. The compound had quieted down considerably with the onset of nighttime. I could see lights in a lot of the dorms.

Misty and Tracey parted with us when we reached Building 2. "It was nice meeting you, Dawn," said Tracey.

I smiled. "Likewise." I looked at Misty. "We had quite a time today, huh, Misty?"

Misty put her hands on her hips. "We sure did. And I foretell more good times to come." She winked. "Good night, girls. See you tomorrow." She waved and turned heel to go in.

I said good night to May and Max when we reached Building 3 and then made my way to 4.

"Let's see…" I stopped before the elevator. "That's freaky. I'm room 659 as well. Brock'll get a kick out of that."

I sighed as I unlocked the door to my room. I thrust my suitcase inside, shut the door, and flopped on the huge bed. I groaned – the bed was as comfy as it looked. I folded my arms behind my head and stared at the ceiling. What a day! I'd met all of Ash's other traveling companions, and what a bunch! They were all so friendly and kind, and people I wanted to get to know better and become good friends with. Leave it up to Ash to make such a good group of friends.

I got up and unpacked my suitcase to find my PJs. I changed and brushed my teeth, and was about to hop into bed when I remembered. My schedule! How could I forget?

Sure enough, there was a blinking envelope on the screen on the opposite wall. I clicked it. Hmm… Very nice. Pokémon Seminar first, then Pokémon Fashion. Lunch. Then Poffin Baking and a Battling Seminar. Like Brock said, looks like these guys did their homework. This would be fun.

I flopped back onto my bed. My thoughts wandered invariably to Ash. Where was he? I remembered what Misty and Brock were saying about him getting lost and I giggled, wondering whether it could be true.

But something had been bothering me since I'd realized who Misty was. She'd said she was eager to see Ash again – which I could imagine: she had been apart from him much longer than I had – but that wasn't sitting well with me. Misty was really friendly and open and I felt bad for that feeling, but I couldn't ignore it. And after seeing May, Max, Tracey, and Brock, I'd realized that Ash wouldn't be just mine to spend time with either.

I wondered how Ash would treat me with all his other friends here. Had the adventures we'd shared that were so special to me been just another set? And our high fives – did he do that with all his traveling companions or was it really the special thing the two of us shared?

I held my head in frustration. I was thinking too much and about the wrong things. I just wished Ash was here.

Somehow when he was around none of these things really seemed to matter.

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/05/13, by 5:00 AM UTC


	6. Surprise, Surprise

Author's Note: Point-of-View Change

May's Point-of-View

* * *

I yawned and stretched, sitting up. Wow, did I feel good. This bed was probably the best I'd ever slept in. I stood up, stretching some more. The alarm clock next to the bed reported the time as eight o'clock. What time did classes start again?

I moved to the LCD mounted on the wall that'd brought me the message with my schedule last night. I reviewed it again. Pokémon Seminar, Pokémon Fashion, Pokéblock Mixing, and Battling Seminar. I was happy with it – likely, I'd have a few classes with Dawn as well, which was an added bonus.

I remembered what I was looking for and pressed my finger onto the Pokémon Seminar block.

"Ooh." Call me easily amazed, but immediately another page popped up with various tidbits of info about the class – a description, syllabus, what to bring, what to expect, etc. And right at the top, I found…

"What?! It starts at nine? Why didn't anyone tell me?!" One hour was fine to get ready, but I was just worried there wouldn't be enough time for breakfast. A growing girl needs three square meals a day, you know.

I rushed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower, and finished in a record half an hour. I was just finishing pulling on my clothes when there was an impatient knock at the door.

"Coming!" I yelled.

I tied off my bandana and rushed to the door, making sure to look through the peephole. Not for safety, though…

I smirked. "Hey, whoever it is! I can't see you through the peephole, so you mind growing a few inches for me?"

"Oh, be quiet, May, I know you know it's me!" Max shot back. I still waited until Max finally stood up on his tiptoes and I could see him through the peephole.

I opened the door quickly, acting surprised. "Oh, it's you, Max! Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Max put his hands to his temples and took a deep breath, obviously trying to keep himself under control. I laughed to myself.

"Ehem. It's past 8:30, class starts at 9, and we haven't had breakfast. Let's go." Max said choppily, turning heel and heading to the elevator. I quickly slipped my ID card into my green waist pack, belted it on, and shut the door to my room. I caught up to Max just as the doors to the elevator were opening.

Max barely waited for me to get in before he clicked the button for the ground floor. He stood silently as we descended.

I sighed. Maybe I'd had a little too much fun. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry Max. I was just joking around." No response. "Hey, what do you have first today?"

I could see that he still didn't really want to talk to me, but he couldn't help it. He'd been super excited for this ever since the letter came and Dad had told him he could go in his place.

"Pokémon Seminar," he said begrudgingly. Then he couldn't help himself. "I read the description for it. It's really cool! Like Brock guessed, it's one of the general classes everyone's taking. It's all about Pokémon in the wild, the different types of trainers, how to better interact with your Pokémon – stuff that's relevant to everyone coming here, regardless of occupation or trainer class. It sounds like fun and it'll definitely give me a leg up when I get my first Pokémon!" He took a breath and glanced sidelong at me. "What about you – what do you have first?"

I considered myself forgiven. "Same, Pokémon Seminar." I said as the elevator doors opened and we walked out. "Hopefully that means we'll be in the same class, and if we're lucky some of the others will be in it, too. I know from yesterday that at least Brock has it first, too."

We exited the building and I looked left and right. I saw a figure in a pink skirt walking in our direction and I waved.

"Hey, Dawn! Good morning!" I called. As she closed the distance between us, I admired her in the morning sun. I had often thought about the fact that between Misty, Dawn, and me, Dawn was the most openly feminine. It was amazing how she pulled off that cute look – skirt, hair, beanie, and all – without compromising on her strong personality. I knew from experience that Ash was a really dense guy, but I often wondered, traveling through an entire region with a girl like that, if ever…

"May, Max, good morning! Sleep well?" Dawn asked, walking up.

I pushed back the tendrils of negative thoughts. I liked Dawn a lot and wanted to become better friends with her, and I wouldn't let anything get in the way of that.

"Like a baby." I smiled.

"Great." Dawn jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Misty actually came to my room while I was getting ready and told me she and the others were going to breakfast." Max and I followed Dawn as she started walking in what I assumed was the direction of the cafeteria. "She said she'd gone to your room already but there was no response; she assumed you were still asleep so she asked me to check on you once I was ready."

"When she said she slept like a baby, she wasn't kidding." I rubbed my head sheepishly as Max finally got his revenge. Dawn laughed.

"Hey, I don't blame you – those beds are incredible." We entered a building with a spoon and fork logo on it. "This is the cafeteria," Dawn muttered, "and," she pointed, "there they are."

Sure enough, I could make out Brock's tan form sprawled on the bench. As we got closer I observed the redness of his ear, Misty's fed-up demeanor, and Tracey's amused expression and concluded that another one of his romantic endeavors had failed. Some things never changed.

We all exchanged morning greetings and Dawn, Max, and I got in line for breakfast. It was a shame they weren't serving noodles, but I was satisfied with a bagel and eggs on the side.

Once we were all settled and Brock was back to normal, Misty spoke up.

"We've got about 15 minutes before class starts. What does everyone have first? Brock and I both have Pokémon Seminar."

"Same here," said Dawn.

"Pokémon Seminar for Max and me as well," I added.

"Yup, same." Tracey finished.

"That's great," said Brock. "I'm assuming we're all going to be in the same class, then, as long as there aren't multiple sections. Based on the course description, it sounded like it would take place in a larger lecture hall because pretty much everyone will be taking it."

I laughed to myself as Max nodded sagely along with what Brock was saying, having read the course description as well. Those two were so similar. I suddenly recalled the days when we traveled Hoenn. That reminded me…

"Any news of Ash?" I asked.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.

"He'll be here. Just give him time." Brock said, although he sounded less sure than he'd been before.

There was a silence around our table as I imagined the same thought was going through everyone else's heads. I knew that I'd come here partly for the express reason of seeing my old friend, but it only now occurred to me that maybe that had been a big part of everyone else's agendas as well.

Misty stood up. "Come on guys, we have about 5 minutes to get to the Seminar. Let's not be late on the first day."

We walked together out of the cafeteria, and Brock and Max led us into the big dome. There we had to scan our ID cards to get through the turnstiles to the right of the welcoming desk, and we were allowed to pass through into the heart of the dome's expanse.

It was organized by a sort of tunnel system, with a label over each tunnel. Brock and Max said something briefly to each other, and then led us into a tunnel labeled, "Terminal 2". The tunnel was well lit and user-friendly, not at all the type of tunnel a seasoned traveler like myself was used to. It was so organized I was sure I would've gotten lost without Max and Brock.

Within a few minutes the tunnel opened up into a wide atrium. Along the length of the atrium there were classrooms on either side; at the end was a set of large double doors. We walked straight through to the double doors.

Dawn looked at a pink watch-like device on her wrist – I think it's called a Pokétch – and said, "Right on time."

Brock threw open the doors and we walked into a lecture hall. Luckily for us, class had not yet started. People were standing up all over the place, moving here and there and grouping up in some places. There were pleasant sounds of chatter and laughter, and I imagined many old friends were meeting up just as we had.

Brock and Misty waved to a few people – maybe Gym Leader friends – and then we all took seats next to each other in a row near the back. In all I counted about 15 rows with 10 seats to a row. So… no more than 150 would be in this class. A large number, but not unmanageable and large enough to take the pressure off each individual, which was nice for a first class at a place where you weren't sure what to expect.

Suddenly everyone standing up started sitting down, and I looked to the front to see what was up. A man with white bushy hair and a white moustache, a monocle, and a white coat had moved to the front of the room. His demeanor and commanding presence indicated he was the teacher.

When the room became quiet enough he boomed: "Hello, everyone, and welcome to your first class of the first ever PokéCamp!" There were cheers, whistles, and claps from all around. "I'm glad to see you're all excited. My name is Dr. Garez, and I'll be instructing this class, which is the Pokémon Seminar."

He clapped his hands together. "Now, I'd like to jump right in but first things first. Part of the mission of PokéCamp is to foster relationships between different Pokémon enthusiasts, so we're going to start by having each of you introduce yourself to the rest of us." Well, so much for a low pressure situation. "There are a lot of us so I guess I'll just have 20 or so of you introduce yourselves each class until everyone's accounted for. Don't be nervous, it's nothing formal; just a little basic info is all. Now, any volunteers?"

I noticed that none of us were raising our hands and laughed inwardly. It was nerves for most of us I think – I admit it, including me – except Brock and Misty, who seemed at ease, just waiting for the right moment.

To my surprise, quite a few people volunteered. The introductions started, and like the professor said they were pretty laidback and lighthearted, with a few laughs here and there. Among the first twenty who introduced themselves I recognized two – Flannery, Hoenn's Lavaridge Town Gym leader, and Morrison, who was one of Ash's rivals in the Ever Grande Conference. I saw that Misty, Brock, Tracey, and Dawn were often smiling or leaning forward with similar flashes of recognition during introductions. I realized with awe that between us we knew people from over four different regions and that between us we'd probably know a good number of the people here.

The last person to introduce himself for the day was a tall man sitting in front of me. As he walked back from the front of the room and entered the row in front of me, the doors to the lecture hall opened with an audible _SWISH_.

There was a pause, and then the room suddenly erupted into quiet chatter and murmuring; there were a few whistles and good-natured laughs from around the room. The man returning to the seat in front of me stopped to look at the source of all the commotion and stood blocking my view.

"Come in!" said Dr. Garez cordially. "No matter you're a little late, we were doing introductions but you already seem to know quite a few of the people here. Since that's the case, why don't you just get your introduction out of the way now? Just a few words, that's all."

The man in front of me was still, rather frustratingly, standing up and blocking my view. I heard the sound of footsteps making their way across the front of the room.

Since we were near the back, Misty, Brock, Tracey, Dawn, and Max had all been craning their necks to see what was going on. But as I heard the footsteps near the center of the room I heard gasps from Max, Misty, and Dawn. Tracey and Brock looked at each other and grinned widely. Max suddenly started smiling as well. Misty now had her hands clasped tightly on her thighs, and Dawn was sitting forward on her seat and gripping the armrests, but both had started grinning.

The sound of footsteps stopped as I assumed the person moving reached the center of the room. The man standing in front of me finally decided to sit down, clearing my view.

I caught my breath.

"Hello, everyone." The familiar figure at the front said. "My name is Ash Ketchum."

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/08/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


	7. Ash Rehashed

Author's Note

May's POV

* * *

"Hello, everyone. My name is Ash Ketchum." said the familiar figure at the front. "I'm a Pokémon Trainer from Pallet Town." Ash looked around the room calmly and then sat down in a free seat near the front.

There was a momentary pause. Dr. Garez had said the introductions should be brief, but none of them had been that brief. Everyone had been expecting a little more, especially from Ash. Speaking of which… As Dr. Garez broke the silence and began the lecture, I turned to meet my friends' eyes. I was forced to acknowledge what I'd been trying to ignore since I realized it was Ash that walked in.

Something was terribly wrong.

There were a thousand reasons for that conclusion. To name a few: Ash was not wearing his hat; he had not included the obligatory phrase that was always a part of his introduction and identity, "and I want to be a Pokémon Master"; disturbingly, he did not have Pikachu on his shoulder; also disturbingly, his eyes had moved over all of us without even a flash of acknowledgement. I was not sure which of the last two points was more disturbing.

Something was terribly wrong.

For the rest of the class Dr. Garez lectured on the different trainer classes and the realms and bounds of each one. The lecture was anything but boring – I could see him moving about often, bringing out props, doing demos, and I often heard laughter from the class – but I couldn't focus. I was tuning in and out of the class, unable to keep my mind or eyes away from Ash. I often met worried eyes with Misty, Tracey, Brock, or Dawn; every so often, two of them would whisper between themselves. I was dying to get up and approach Ash, but the good doctor seemed to not be giving breaks in such a dynamic class.

I looked at the clock. Forty minutes to go. I fidgeted. It was too long.

I unzipped my waist pack and reached inside. My fingers closed around the cool metal of my half-ribbon. I felt the soft fabric on the edge of it and took a deep breath, closing my eyes.

"…And thus," I jerked awake, realizing I'd fallen asleep and attempting to compose myself, "while each class of Pokémon trainer has different objectives with their Pokémon, all of them share a common element: a strong bond between trainer and Pokémon dramatically increases their chance of success in their field." Dr. Garez pressed a button on a remote and the projector screen slid up the wall. The sound of a bell ringing nearly made me jump. The professor clapped his hands together as people bustled to gather their things. "And that's it for today! I will see you all tomorrow - please enjoy the rest of your first day here at PokéCamp!"

People were filing out of the room already as we all stood up. Brock looked grimly at the rest of us; I could imagine that the changes in Ash were most apparent and disturbing to him, who'd traveled with Ash the longest.

"Let's catch up to Ash," he said.

"Too late," said Max, who came back into our row, panting. "I tried to catch him but he was out near the front and it was too crowded."

A moment. Then: "Alright, let's not stress over it, guys. We'll see him at lunch or around the campus and we'll find out what's up. For now, let's just go to our next classes."

I found it hard to believe Brock could brush over all the red flags with Ash, but then I realized he was just trying to keep everyone calm. If he acted panicked, we would all lose it. Or at least by the looks of it, Dawn and I would. Misty had a frown pasted on her face which I guessed was to suppress her worried side. Max seemed upset and Tracey was talking to him. Suddenly Max nodded and Tracey stood up.

"Brock's right, guys, let's just deal with it when we see him." Tracey said. We all agreed silently, and made our way out of the hall.

I checked on Max quick to make sure he was ok and then let him split off to his next class. Everyone else just followed their maps until we all split off, except for Dawn, who was either following me to talk, or…

"Dawn, do you have Pokémon Fashion now, too, by any chance?"

Dawn looked like she'd been snapped out of a trance. "Huh? Uh, yeah, I do." She smiled. "So we have it, together, huh? This'll be fun."

I smiled back. "You better believe it." But I couldn't ignore the elephant in the room. "So… Weird stuff with Ash, huh?"

Dawn looked pretty upset. "Yeah. You saw, no Pikachu, no hat… He didn't seem enthusiastic at all when he introduced himself. Worst part was when he looked around I could swear we met eyes… but it looked like he didn't even recognize me."

I felt a pang as everything she said resonated with my earlier thoughts. "Yeah…" How could I comfort her when I was in the same pit? "It'll be ok. There's some explanation, and we'll find out soon. Let's not let it get us down too much before we know what's actually going on."

It was awful encouragement, but Dawn gave a small nod and a forced smile. We walked into our next class and took seats next to each other.

The teacher was a young, pretty blonde woman named Ms. Modino. She looked like lots of fun and promptly began teaching in a perky, enthusiastic voice. But Dawn and I looked straight at each other, and I knew trying to pay attention wouldn't be worth a lick.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Glaaa~~" Glaceon complained, making a face at me. I jumped, surprised, and then knelt down to pet the poor thing. I was in my Pokéblock Mixing class, and on the first day the teacher was evaluating our current skills by having us mix Pokéblocks as best we could and feeding them to our Pokémon. Which I really wasn't bad at usually. But I was still out of it, and Glaceon was paying for it.

"Sorry," I said sincerely, rubbing behind Glaceon's ear. "I'm just a little distracted, is all. I'll get you something nice afterwards, maybe even something Brock whipped up." Glaceon purred in happiness.

I stood up as people started packing up. I sighed; after Dawn and I'd made it through the Fashion class, we'd all met for lunch, but we couldn't track Ash down. But before we had to get back to class we'd realized that we all shared another class in common – the Battle Seminar, at the end of the day. We figured that chances were it was another large class most people passed through, and we were banking on Ash being there.

The bell rang and I snapped to attention. I returned Glaceon to my Poké Ball and rushed out the room. I hurried to the place where the Battle Seminar was taking place.

From the outside it looked the same as the room in which the General Seminar had taken place, but as I pushed open the door I found the inside layout much different. There was a chalkboard and desk at one end of the room for lecture purposes, but in the center of the room was a large, circular depression which housed an arena – there was the classic Poké Ball logo in the middle and a large electronic scoreboard mounted on the wall of the arena. Bleachers surrounded the arena. This was as hands-on as a classroom could get.

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Dawn waving at me from the top of one of the bleachers. Apparently everyone else was already here. I ran up to meet them.

"Any sign of him yet?" I asked Dawn.

"No, but we're looking. Keep your eyes peeled, too." No kidding. All of my friends were standing up as well, looking around intently.

"There!" Max piped up suddenly.

We all looked where he was pointing. Sure enough, I saw messy black hair and Ash's Sinnoh outfit. He was here, sitting near the front of the bleachers.

The professor moved to the front of the room. "Hello, and welcome to the Battle Seminar! Here, we'll be learning all about Pokémon Battling." He boomed. "I would tell you what exactly this class is about, but I'd like to make a point about it by showing you instead!" He grinned widely. "Now, can I have two enthusiastic volunteers to give us an exhibition match?"

It was an admirable attempt, but I doubted anyone would be willing to stand up in front of so many people on the first day and just –

"I'd like to volunteer." Alright, never mind. The person who'd said this was sitting directly opposite Ash at the bottom of the bleachers. As the professor nodded and the volunteer stood up I saw he was a boy about my age, with purple hair and a serious, heavyset face.

Dawn shifted next to me uncomfortably, and I turned and saw recognition on her and Brock's faces. That must mean this guy was someone they met in Sinnoh.

The professor waited a moment. When there were no other volunteers he motioned to the boy who'd stood up.

"Thank you for volunteering, young man. Your name?"

"Paul," said the boy curtly. Was it just me, or was he trying to make eye contact with Ash?

"Well, Paul, since nobody else is volunteering, you may choose your opponent. I have to say that while I am not a fan of forcing participation, I think an exhibition match is the best way to get this class started, and seeing as the people gathered here are the best of the best, I can't say I feel bad for forcing anyone's participation – everyone here should be more than qualified for a little exhibition match. So, young man, who'd you like to face? Someone random? A friend? An old rival?"

Paul smiled grimly – this guy just wasn't happy, huh? – and said, "I'll go with the last option. He raised his finger and pointed it straight at Ash. "Ash Ketchum, I challenge you to a battle!"

It seemed there were a good many people in the room who were familiar with the rivalry between Ash and this guy named Paul. Cheers broke out as Paul issued his challenge. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Brock and Dawn looking at each other uneasily. I turned to them.

"If Ash accepts the challenge and battles and this guy really is his rival, we can probably figure out a lot about Ash's situation from the way the battle plays out. Sit tight, guys, and if anyone notices anything, point it out to the rest of us."

Brock and Dawn seemed to loosen up as I said this and there were nods all around. But there was a small caveat – Ash had to agree to the battle.

The room had gone silent as everyone waited for Ash's response. I felt a sudden pre-battle adrenaline rush and the ridiculous urge to smile and I turned to the others in my row, who seemed to be fighting the same urge. I knew exactly why.

Who was I kidding? Some things might have changed, something might be wrong, but Ash Ketchum was Ash Ketchum.

Ash Ketchum stood up from his seat and faced Paul head-on, locking eyes with him.

"I accept your challenge."

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/14/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


	8. Battle Genius

Author's Note

May's POV

* * *

"I accept your challenge." Ash said boldly.

The hall broke into loud cheers, claps, and whistles. Everyone was fired up for this battle. Dawn leaned over to speak in my ear.

"Ash and Paul were fierce rivals in Sinnoh. They met early on and disagreed strongly about how to train Pokémon. They were competing not just to prove who the better battler was, but to prove whose training style was the right one. Ash lost to Paul in most of their battles along the way, but in the Lily of the Valley Conference, which is the championship tournament for the Sinnoh League, Ash won out in their battle." Dawn smiled happily at this. "There's a lot more to say about their rivalry, but it looks like they're about to start."

The hall fell into silent anticipation. Max leaned forward. "It's starting," he whispered. All of us looked on intensely.

The professor stood up. "Now, since everyone seems to be so eager for this match, do either of you mind if I make this match a full six-on-six battle?"

Both Ash and Paul agreed to the terms and descended into the arena. The scoreboard blazed to life with pictures of Ash and Paul and six Poké Balls each to represent their Pokémon. The professor stayed above the field, but moved to the rim of the arena, directly above the scoreboard. He cleared his throat.

"This Pokémon battle is for exhibition purposes. It will be a full six-on-six battle with no substitutions. The field's landscape will remain as is. The match will be declared over when one side has no Pokémon left with which to battle. Now, without further ado…" He paused for effect. "Let the match begin!"

Paul and Ash reached for their waists simultaneously and each brought out a Poké Ball. They threw them onto the field at the same time.

"Electivire, standby for battle!" Paul called. I turned to Dawn and made a gagging sound in my throat. She covered her mouth with her hands, giggling. I hate to judge, but 'standby for battle'? Come on.

Ash's Poké Ball landed on the field and he said… nothing. Dawn and I looked at each other, the smiles wiped off our faces.

"It's still better than 'standby for battle,'" I quipped, but there was no fun in it. Ash usually released his Pokémon with flair and a prideful call. I set my face; I had to focus on the battle and figure out what was up with him.

Ash had released Charizard, which I was happy about. I remembered how powerful he was from the Battle Frontier, and I was relatively confident this round would be Ash's. The Pokémon Paul had called out – he'd called it Electivire – I was unfamiliar with, probably because it was from Sinnoh. I decided to check out the competition using my Pokédex, which Professor Birch had recently updated for me.

"Electivire, the Thunderbolt Pokémon, and the evolved form of Electabuzz. When Electivire attacks, it pushes the tips of its two tails against its opponent."

Hmm… Although Charizard looked like a dragon type, I knew from my time with him that he was actually a fire and flying type. Unfortunately, the flying portion of that combination would put Charizard at a type disadvantage to Electivire. But Ash could handle it.

"I can't say our match at Lily of the Valley was lacking in any way – it was probably the best I've ever had. But don't think I'm just going to let the outcome stand as it is, Ash! I'm going all out!" Paul called the first strike. "Electivire, Thunder!"

"Steel wing," Ash said calmly. Charizard roared and dove towards Electivire, both wings glowing white. Electivire's thunder shot towards Charizard, but was suddenly diverted into his wings – conducted by the steel.

Charizard's wings were turning yellow and crackling with electricity. When Charizard collided with Electivire, the force of the attack combined with the electricity in Charizard's wings threw the Thunderbolt Pokémon flying back, covered in static from its own electricity that'd been returned to it. It stood up, panting.

"A great strategy, but the added electricity won't do any damage to Electivire because of its Motor Drive ability." Tracey said. "The actual damage inflicted is just from Charizard's steel wing. And maybe some damage to Electivire's pride."

"Maybe," said Brock. "But I don't think the point was to use the electricity against Electivire, just to neutralize its effect on Charizard. If Thunder had connected it would have been super effective. Ash pretty much just neutralized Paul's type advantage."

Paul shook his head. "Well, you're still as creative as ever. But that won't save you. In fact, that move just played into Electivire's Motor Drive ability – you've just made him faster. Electivire, Thunder Punch!"

"Don't try competing with his speed, Charizard. Fly up," Ash ordered. Charizard took to the air, and ended up above Electivire as it threw a crackling punch where Charizard had been a moment before.

"Right where we want you." Paul smirked. "Quickly, Giga Impact!"

"Brace yourself!" Ash called. "DragonBreath!"

"What?" Tracey said. "There's no way DragonBreath can neutralize Giga Impact! What's he thinking?"

Brock was thinking intensely. "You're right, DragonBreath doesn't have the power to hold off Giga Impact, but it'll at least cushion the impact some."

"Sure," Tracey conceded, "but if cushioning the impact was his aim, why not use a move like Overheat that's closer in power to Giga Impact? It's still not as powerful as Giga Impact, but Charizard would take much less damage."

Electivire flew into the air inside a spiraling purple orb with streaks of yellow and orange around it – an image of power. Charizard turned its mouth upon Electivire and let loose a large green and yellow cone of air that crashed against Electivire's onslaught. As Brock had said, Electivire seemed to be slowed down some, but it merely put one if its fists out and powered through the attack, knocking into Charizard and sending him flying.

Electivire landed on one knee, panting and remaining still. Charizard managed to prevent himself from crashing into the ground, regaining control of himself in the air with mighty beats of his wings. He looked bruised but definitely not out.

Paul looked at Charizard, then back at Electivire. "ThunderPunch as soon as you can, Electivire!"

Brock spoke so suddenly I nearly jumped. "That's it!" he said.

I was going to ask him what was it, but Ash started talking.

"Charizard." Ash commanded calmly. "Seismic Toss."

"What?" Misty said. "But Charizard's weaker right now and Ash can't seriously expect to pull off a Seismic Toss without serious resistance from Electivire."

"He can." Brock said. "I just realized why Ash would use DragonBreath instead of a stronger move to slow down Giga Impact. See, DragonBreath has an effect besides just damage. It can paralyze the opponent as well."

Everyone looked at Electivire to see that Brock was indeed right. The Thunderbolt Pokémon hadn't moved from its landing position after Giga Impact, although it seemed to be trying pretty hard. I noticed static crawling across Electivire's fur, confirming Brock's theory. I looked at Paul. Judging by the dumbstruck expression and pallor of his face, he was realizing it, too.

"Ash used a move that had no chance of neutralizing Giga Impact on purpose – to ensure that Giga Impact hit. Sounds weird, but the thing is, if Giga Impact connects, the user is forced to rest afterwards because of the power the move required." Brock explained. "Put that together with the possibility of paralysis from DragonBreath, and Ash's strategy was surefire – minimizing damage to Charizard while simultaneously forcing Electivire out of action after the move."

I finished with what was now obvious. "Which opens up an opportunity for Charizard to finish off Electivire with zero resistance." I felt like I'd just been explained the brilliance behind a piece of otherwise esoteric abstract art. Had Ash advanced this much just in Sinnoh?

Charizard swooped down and grabbed Electivire. The mighty fire Pokémon flew up high, spun around in a circle, and zoomed back down, building up incredible momentum due to gravity. As Charizard dove, Paul desperately tried to turn things around.

"Electivire, Thunder!"

But to no avail. Ash's plan had worked completely. Electivire could do nothing as Charizard neared the bottom of the dive.

With a mighty roar and a powerful twist of his body, Charizard poured two hundred pounds of muscle behind the built-up free-fall momentum and shot Electivire toward the ground.

Charizard spread his wings out to full length and with a few great wing beats leveled out parallel to the ground and landed safely; behind him, simultaneously, Electivire collided with the field, creating an explosion of dust, debris, and sound.

The hall was silent and Paul's face was pale as the dust cleared. It was almost a joke that the professor waited until he could see to make the call for the battle – the field may have been obscured, but the outcome was clear.

"Electivire is unable to battle," the professor declared. Nobody could contest that: said Pokémon was lying limp at the bottom of a crater 8 feet across and 2 feet deep, completely knocked out. "Charizard wins the battle!"

Charizard roared in triumph and everyone cheered loudly – it'd certainly been an exciting battle.

Paul slowly brought out a Poké Ball and returned Electivire. He muttered something to the Poké Ball and put it away, exchanging it for another one.

Paul looked a little off kilter to me but he seemed to be keeping himself under control well for the most part. He looked straight across the field at Ash.

"Nice maneuvering," Paul said roughly, "but this match is far from over."

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/14/13, by 5:00 AM UTC


	9. Mystery Exacerbated

Author's Note

May's POV

* * *

Ash returned Charizard to his Poké Ball. He reached to return it to his waist belt and brought his hand back out with another Ball. With a click he enlarged it and threw it into the center of the field.

Paul matched the motion. "Standby for battle, Aggron!"

Again, Ash had said nothing, but as his Poké Ball jumped back to him and the white light disappeared, I made out the form of a Squirtle. Sweet. These were both familiar Pokémon I didn't have to look up, and with my Wartortle in mind I was rooting for Ash's Squirtle all the way. And this time, Ash had the type advantage.

Considering the 800 pound weight difference and Aggron's thick iron armor, though, I'd say the playing field was just about even.

"Resume the match!" the professor declared.

Squirtle played Aggron using what I had thought put Squirtle at a disadvantage – weight. It acted like it was on the run and lured Aggron to stand in the center of the field and shoot attacks while it ran circles around the Iron Armor Pokémon. Rotating made the huge Pokémon dizzy and put him off balance. Paul was shrewd enough to realize what was going on, but as soon as he communicated it to Aggron, Squirtle came in from behind with a Skull Bash.

As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Paul was forced to watch on in frustration as his Pokémon was not allowed the chance to get up, bombarded constantly by Water Guns and BubbleBeams every time it tried. And from its position on the ground its own attacks were obsolete.

Paul eventually had Aggron stop struggling to get up or attack Squirtle from its position and instead had it alternatingly use Iron Defense and Metal Sound, over and over. Slowly Squirtle's long-range attacks had less and less effect. I noticed Aggron was close to fainting, but with the damage Squirtle's attacks were doing from that distance, Aggron would still be in the game for a while.

"Rapid Spin," Ash called. I saw Paul's lips twitch and I wanted to call out to warn Ash, but too late.

Squirtle came in spinning fast, and Paul commanded: "Catch it!"

Aggron's powerful claws closed on Squirtle's shell, stopping it in its tracks. "Close the holes!" Paul followed up quickly. Before Squirtle could poke its head out and retaliate, Aggron's iron hands closed over the openings in its shell.

"Oh no!" Max was out of his seat. "I was wondering why Paul was having Aggron use Metal Sound when he wasn't attacking!"

"Wha~?" I asked dumbly.

Brock looked over. "Metal Sound is a move that sharply decreases the opponent's special defense. Paul had Aggron use it because he was hoping for this moment. Considering the number of times Aggron used Metal Sound and the small distance between them now, a special attack from Aggron would do serious damage to Squirtle."

"Oh, no." I whispered. Had Ash fallen into Paul's trap?

"Charge up your strongest Flash Cannon, Aggron!" Paul commanded.

As a silver ball started forming in Aggron's mouth, I looked to Ash, who was strangely calm.

"Squirtle," Ash called. "Hydro Pump."

"What?" Paul looked stunned. "Squirtle knows Hydro Pump? Then why…?" Realization dawned on Paul's face.

I was lost. "That's it!" said Brock, having an epiphany I didn't for the second time. This time, however, I didn't need to ask for an explanation – Squirtle made it clear.

Paul was yelling to Aggron to release the Flash Cannon but it was already too late.

Apparently, while most Water Pokémon executed Hydro Pump by shooting a powerful stream of water from the mouth, Squirtle's shell allowed for a different style of execution. Upon using Hydro Pump the jets of water were shot out of each of the four holes in Squirtle's shell; and because the attack was so volatile the jets didn't just come out straight: tiny trajectory changes inevitable inside the shell caused the water to shoot out in curved streams that looked like blades – in turn, these fast moving, curved jets of water started Squirtle spinning at high speeds. The total effect seemed to be the sum of four Hydro Pumps and Rapid Spin all at once. The point? It packed a punch.

Hydro Pump in this style was practically tailored for the situation. The water Squirtle was shooting out of its holes was plugged by Aggron's hands, but it was making things slippery (pun intended) for the Iron Armor Pokémon. Suddenly, using brute force to hold on to Squirtle wasn't so easy. In addition, the water being held back by Aggron began building up pressure. Taking these two things into account spelled doom for the big guy.

Unable to hold on to the Tiny Turtle Pokémon, Aggron let go, allowing Squirtle to deliver a close-up Hydro Pump that was super effective. Blades of water shot at harrowing speeds out of Squirtle's shell, whipping Aggron. The large armored Pokémon bellowed and its built-up Flash Cannon misfired.

As Squirtle spun up and above Aggron, dousing the Pokémon in streams of water, it emerged from its shell and – in midair – shot a more traditional Hydro Pump straight out of its mouth, scoring a direct hit on Aggron. The recoil from the attack sent Squirtle flipping back in front of Ash and the Pokémon landed with a flourish. I made a mental note to get Wartortle to meet Ash's Squirtle – there was a lot to be learned.

As the water shower cleared, Aggron was revealed to be knocked out. The referee called it and a frustrated Paul returned the behemoth while Ash did the same for Squirtle.

"How did that even happen?" I asked happily, clapping along with the crowd.

Tracey was shaking his head in wonder. Brock spoke up. "Paul was setting up a trap, like we thought earlier; but Ash sprung Paul's trap against him – in fact, if I understand what happened correctly, Ash actually set a trap to get Paul to set a trap."

"Huh?" said Dawn. Thank you, Dawn, for speaking my mind.

Brock elaborated. "Ash didn't have Squirtle use Hydro Pump throughout most of the battle, but he did use a variety of other attacks – Skull Bash, Rapid Spin, Water Gun, BubbleBeam – to lure Paul into feeling like he'd seen all of Squirtle's moves. That made Paul confident in his strategy to weaken Squirtle's defense and bring him in close for the finish. But Ash was after the same thing – he needed to get in close to deliver a powerful enough attack to finish the battle, but without chancing Squirtle getting KO'd by one of Aggron's powerful attacks."

I could feel the light bulb go off. "So Ash made Paul comfortable with catching Squirtle up close to use the opportunity to finish Aggron off."

"Right," affirmed Brock. "Paul was so confident he let Aggron take its time with Flash Cannon, and Aggron's powerful hands actually provided a good, sturdy place from which to charge up and shoot the Hydro Pump. Squirtle would've never been able to get through Aggron's defense from a distance and with weaker attacks, but close up with Hydro Pump – it was a KO for sure."

I looked at Ash, amazed. I turned to Dawn. "I've always thought Ash was a great Trainer, but I've never seen him battle like this. Is this how he changed in Sinnoh?"

Dawn looked back at me. "I thought Ash was a great Trainer throughout his time in Sinnoh, but I've never seen him like this either." She scrunched up her eyebrows. "It's great to see him so strong, but still, it makes me uneasy… I think this might have to do with the other changes we've seen in him."

We met eyes, renewing our pact to find out what was up with Ash, and then we both turned back to the field.

Paul had released what my Pokédex said was a Drapion. Ash had let out a Lapras. This seemed funny to some of the onlookers and Paul, as there was no water on the field, but then Ash had Lapras use Ice Beam over the field and the expression on Paul's face froze (pun intended).

The battle progressed as the first two had. Bouts of power play, then Ash moving in with an overwhelming strategy. The result? Drapion found itself with frozen fangs, pelted by its own iced-over pin missiles, and unable to skate. Paul, however, did get a nice ice sculpture out of it.

The battle after Drapion and Lapras' was Paul's Torterra versus Ash's Pidgeot, during which Paul's Torterra got dizzy enough to be mistaken for a Spinda and buffeted rather uncomfortably considering it weighed 700 pounds. Paul tried to surprise Ash with a Stone Edge, which would've been super effective if it could hit a speed demon like Pidgeot. In the end, Torterra was shell-deep in sand and it succumbed to a Wing Attack from Pidgeot.

After that Paul threw out Magmortar against Ash's Primeape. I thought this battle would be tricky, because of Magmortar's Flame Body ability. In accordance with its nature as a fighting type, Primeape only knew physical type moves – moves that required Primeape coming in contact with Magmortar to inflict damage. Due to Flame Body, there was therefore a high chance Primeape would get badly and continuously burned from attacking the Blast Pokémon. Ash was not to be stopped, though. Magmortar found itself assailed by debris – rock and ice from previous battles – shot towards it by Primeape's kicking and thrashing. Magmortar tried to counter with some powerful fire-type moves, but Primeape was as lithe as a professional fighter, so none of the attacks landed. Magmortar was out once Ash discovered – or rather, revealed to everybody else – that Flame Body did not apply to the Blast Pokémon's cannons. Primeape used this fact to hold Magmortar by one of its cannons to deliver a KO Seismic Toss that left Paul burning (pun intended).

The final battle was aerial – Paul's Honchkrow versus Ash's Butterfree. I wasn't sure what to expect. On one hand, Honchkrow looked much more menacing and had what seemed a stronger move set, but at this point I knew not to underestimate Ash. I wasn't disappointed. As the two Pokémon were both flying types neither side landed a hit for some time. Paul's fatal mistake was using Haze. What Paul hadn't realized – alright, fine, I didn't know either until Brock told me – was that Butterfree's bug-type nature meant it came fully equipped with a pair of powerful compound eyes. The thick, black smoke Honchkrow released became more of a hindrance to it than Butterfree. Butterfree simply positioned itself behind Honchkrow and hit the so-called "Big Boss" Pokémon with a Whirlwind, blowing away the smog and putting Honchkrow off balance. Shortly afterwards Honchkrow ended up at Paul's feet wrapped in a cocoon of string and both asleep and paralyzed. Wow, I didn't know that was possible.

"Honchkrow is unable to battle!" the professor announced. "Butterfree is the winner of the battle, and since Paul has no Pokémon remaining, Ash is the winner of this match!"

Everyone in the hall exploded in cheers, claps, and whistles, standing up for the great match and Ash's win. Some people crowded the arena and patted Ash on the back or shook his hand. Even from here I could see him smiling and thanking people.

I looked at the scoreboard. Paul had returned Honchkrow and was doing the same, dumbfounded. Paul had lost 0 – 6. That was a tough score, and I would've felt bad for the guy if he didn't just then frown at Ash and then turn and walk away. Hmph. What a character.

Beside me, Dawn was still clapping and grinning from ear to ear. "You go, Ash!" she called.

I smiled and looked down the line. Max and Tracey seemed to be in good spirits as well; but Brock and Misty were anything but. They were muttering to each other in low voices and looking at Ash constantly.

That's when I remembered. We were supposed to be figuring out what was up with Ash. Watching everyone cheer him and after such a great win, I didn't really want to believe anything was wrong – what if this was just Ash with a little change for the stronger?

But as I thought about I knew that wasn't it. Now it wasn't the hat or his introduction or even his brushing over of us. It was Pikachu.

It had been my last hope that Ash would at some point call Pikachu out of his backpack, or even out of his Poké Ball. But Ash had not called Pikachu out during the entire course of the six-on-six battle, and because a Trainer could never have more than six Pokémon on hand, that could mean only one thing: Pikachu was not with Ash.

The thought felt alien. It was through Pikachu I'd met and made my early bonds with Ash, and throughout Hoenn and the Battle Frontier the Mouse Pokémon had always been on Ash's shoulder or in my arms. He was just always there. I shivered, and suddenly knew that asking the question of where Pikachu was would probably be the best way to explore what was going on.

I looked down the row again and caught Misty's eyes. What I found there surprised me, but I could see the same thought in Brock's eyes when I looked at him.

They'd discovered something.

The end-of-the-day bell had already rung. Most everyone had moved out, including Ash, so there went our chance of catching him. Well, it would've been impossible to confront him with all those people around anyway.

Our group moved down the bleachers and out of the lecture hall. We were the last ones out, and we formed a small circle in the atrium outside the lecture hall, looking at each other.

"That was awesome!" Max cried excitedly. I couldn't help but grin at his enthusiasm. I mean, to be honest, it was pretty awesome.

"Yeah…" Misty trailed off.

Dawn sensed something in that and must've seen on her and Brock's faces what I'd seen earlier.

"What happened?" she asked. "Did you figure something out from the battle?"

"Yes," said Misty, kind of unsure of herself. She looked to Brock. "Go ahead, Brock. I still don't entirely know what to make of it."

Brock nodded seriously. He met eyes with Tracey, Max, Dawn, and me in turn. "Do you guys remember the team Ash just fielded?"

"Yeah, of course!" piped Max. "Charizard, Squirtle, Lapras, Pidgeot, Primeape, and Butterfree," he listed proudly.

"That's right," confirmed Brock. "Anything stand out to you guys about that team?"

"Yeah," I piped up. "No Pikachu. He fielded six Pokémon but none of them were Pikachu, which must mean he doesn't have him on hand."

Max suddenly grew quiet. Caught up in his excitement, that must not have occurred to him. The gravity of it was hitting him as it had me. I put an arm around him comfortingly as Brock nodded.

"That's right. Really big point there. But anything else?"

Anything else? I'd thought Pikachu was the key, but was there something else about those six Pokémon? I racked my brain.

Tracey spoke up. "Well, yeah. Misty knows this since she was there, but Lapras was a Pokémon Ash caught and later released in the Orange Islands." Tracey frowned. "You told me you saw Lapras again in Johto, Misty, but it didn't rejoin Ash's team, did it?"

Misty only shook her head no.

Wait a second… "Well, now that you bring that up, I remember that during the Kanto Battle Frontier Ash called on both Squirtle and Charizard, but not from the same place Bulbasaur came from, which was where most of his Pokémon were kept, " I scratched my head. "Squirtle came from a firefighting team named the Squirtle Squad that it led; Ash had let Squirtle join it earlier when he found Squirtle was such a good leader, and after Ash won the Battle Frontier Squirtle went back to the Squad."

"And you told me that Ash had once let his Charizard off his team to train in the legendary Charicific Valley," Dawn said, looking at Brock. "And as of when we parted in Sinnoh, Charizard was still there."

I was starting to connect the dots but I still wasn't seeing the big picture.

Misty filled it in for me. "And you guys wouldn't know this because you weren't there, but Butterfree was the first Pokémon Ash caught, as a Caterpie, and he let it go when Butterfree met its mate and wanted to go with her. Ash caught Primeape as a Mankey and let it go so it could train under a professional to become the P1 fighting champion. And Pidgeot Ash caught as a Pidgeotto and let go so it could be a leader and protector for some of its kind that were being harassed by Fearow."

I looked down solemnly. It sounded just like Ash to let go of such good friends because he thought it'd be best for them and others. I guess letting go was sometimes –

It hit me. I looked up suddenly and saw the realization flash onto Tracey and Dawn's face at the same time. We all looked at Brock and Misty.

Tracey spoke quietly. "We just accounted for every Pokémon on the team Ash just fielded."

Misty spoke in the same tone. "Yes."

Dawn continued the thought. "And every single one was a Pokémon Ash had released for some reason – none of them returned to Ash's team again permanently, and none of them were with the majority of Ash's off-hand Pokémon in Pallet."

Brock nodded slowly. "Yes."

I was seeing it now. "Which means the team Ash brought here is special because it contains neither Pokémon he had on hand when we last saw him, nor any of his offhand Pokémon he kept with Professor Oak in Pallet Town."

We all met eyes.

Brock rolled the idea around. "That's right. None of the Pokémon Ash brought here are technically even his Pokémon anymore – they're Pokémon he once caught and trained, and then let go. None of them technically belong to him any –" Brock stopped.

It clicked.

Ash had been forced to bring a team here that wasn't his. Which meant…

"Something happened to Ash's Pokémon." Brock concluded. "All of his Pokémon," Brock said heavily, and I knew Pikachu was on everyone's minds.

"Hmph." Misty grunted – I suspected she was trying to hide how she really felt. "It all makes sense now, in a weird way." She looked up at all of us. "If you know what I mean."

I knew exactly what she meant by that. The most basic thing about Ash, the first thing about him you needed to know, was that he was deeply connected to his Pokémon. We'd been right something was wrong with Ash, and now it was obvious why.

Something had happened to Ash Ketchum's Pokémon.

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/14/13, by 6:00 AM UTC


	10. Hunting the Elusive Ash

Author's Note: Point-of-View Change

Misty's Point-of-View

* * *

I set my face as neutrally as I could as we made our way to the exit of the dome. I was afraid to put on any expression lest my real feelings come crashing out.

How did I really feel?

Terrified. Numb.

Why?

Because a law of the universe had been broken.

At least it felt that way. Regardless of how much Ash had grown while we'd traveled together and how much I hoped he continued growing afterwards, there were things about him – his essence, if you will – that I'd always felt as immutable.

His clumsy foolishness. His enthusiasm. His stubbornness. His spirit. His devotion to his friends. His Pokémon. Pikachu.

Where'd it all go?

While I was usually good at hiding my more vulnerable feelings, this was really testing that ability. But I was determined to hold it together and get to the bottom of this. If I had to physically shake Ash back to his old self, then so be it.

I clenched my fist. We'd established that something must've happened to Ash's Pokémon but I knew there was more to it than that. If that was all there was to it, the Ash I know would've done everything possible to solve whatever the problem was. And if it wasn't enough he would've come here to ask his friends for help.

But we'd been right in front of him and he didn't even acknowledge us. He was making no apparent effort to do anything about whatever the problem was. Which meant…

I had no idea. For once, I felt like bashing myself in the head with my own mallet. Deduction and piecing things together was Brock's arena. I resolved to solve this the way I solved most of my problems, especially with Ash.

A good-old, head-on confrontation.

We were passing through the exit turnstiles near the doors to the dome. I turned to everyone else.

"Guys." I felt a pang as I saw many of them snap out of thoughts that couldn't be far from mine. "I've had enough of this guessing game. The best way to get to the bottom of this is to confront Ash, and I think we should do it as soon as possible."

I looked across their faces and caught apprehension on May's and worry on Dawn's before Brock stepped forward.

"You're right, Misty." Good old Brock. "The only way to know for sure what's going on is to talk to him." He paused. "For better or for worse."

Shrewd old Brock. He'd hit on what had been my only qualm with my own idea. The fear that if I confronted Ash, I would find something I couldn't do anything about. Watching from afar and guessing, I could always bank on the chance that what I deduced was a misread. If I confronted him, I wouldn't have that security.

"We can't be afraid," Dawn said suddenly. Holy Ho-Oh, had she read my mind? "As long as we know something might've happened to Ash, we can't stand by and do nothing."

Nods all around. Tracey spoke up. "I agree, but how do we find him? We could wait until tomorrow morning's Seminar to catch him, but –"

"We don't have to," Max cut in. I looked at him, surprised. I hadn't expected him to talk. He was younger than the rest of us and I knew he looked up to Ash a lot; what was going on had surely hit him hard. Max continued speaking, softly but firmly. "We can just ask at the desk for his room number. They've got to have it there."

Wow. I should've thought of that. May squeezed Max's shoulder, smiling. "Good thinking, Max."

Max only nodded silently. I made a mental note to pummel Ash when this was sorted out for causing all this worry.

We moved as a group to the front desk. The lady was the same as before, and I noticed her apprehension as Brock approached at the head of our group. I gave Brock a nudge and moved in front of him so I could speak with the lady instead. Under any other circumstances he would've been indignant, but he allowed it now.

"Excuse me," I said in my best polite voice. "How could I get the room number of someone staying here?"

The lady looked at me. "You should probably ask the person." She deadpanned.

I heard Brock snicker and silenced him by casually crushing his foot.

"Well," I said, trying to remain polite, "we can't find him." I couldn't help a little quip. "Hence the need for his room number."

The woman shrugged. "You'll have to look around for him, then. I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to give out any of the information that I have about any of the people here without authorization. Strict orders. Considering the nature of the people gathered here, I hope you can understand."

The official, Gym Leader side of me understood, but that wasn't the part of me in control. "But it's just a room number! Please, it's really important."

"I can't, I'm sorry," the woman said.

"Please," I begged. "It's about a good friend of ours."

The woman didn't seem to budge. We turned and were about to leave when she suddenly called us.

"Wait!" I turned so fast I got whiplash. The lady looked unsure of herself, but she sighed and muttered, "I'm a sucker for friendship." She picked up a paper from the desk and made a few motions on it with her pen.

"I'm not allowed to give out the information myself under any circumstances. But you can get it yourself if you're authorized." She held out the paper she'd scribbled on and I saw it was a campus map. "We're here," she pointed to one circle, "and the Camp Director's office is here," she pointed to another circle. "If this really is important, you can go there and try to convince him to give you whatever information you're looking for. But be careful – I hear he can be temperamental."

I took the map and gave the most grateful expression I could. "Thank you so much." I said emphatically.

She nodded, smiling kindly. "Good luck!"

After I thanked her again May and Dawn went up and showered the woman with so much gratitude she blushed. After they'd thanked her sufficiently to last a few lifetimes, we all made our way out of the dome.

"Well, that was nice of her," Tracey said.

"Yeah, it was," I agreed. "But don't get your hopes up yet. She said this Director guy we're going to is a hard guy to please. We'll have to be smart about this."

I bit my lip, observing the map. The office was on the other side of the compound, a good ten minute walk from here. "Alright, here's what we'll do. Tracey, Brock, and Max, you guys look around campus for Ash. In half-an-hour, with or without Ash, get back here. May, Dawn, and I will see the Director and meet you guys back here then. Sound good?"

I could tell most of them couldn't see why we were splitting up, but it must've sounded like a reasonable enough idea, because everyone agreed and we split off.

As soon as the boys were out of earshot, Dawn asked, "Is there a reason you sent the guys to search and us three girls are going to see the Director?"

"Yes," I said cryptically, grinning slightly. "Can you guess why?"

"Yeah," said May, smiling. "You think even a grumpy, middle-aged man won't be able to resist the begging of three young, beautiful girls, don't you?"

I grinned fully. "That's right." Hey, sue me if I thought it was necessary to pull out all the stops on this one. I decided to lighten the mood. "After all, what man could?"

It was the wrong thing to say. The same name flashed across all our minds at the same time. Dawn laughed and said it reflexively: "Ash, that's who." There were few truer statements, and we would've laughed over it together gaily under any other circumstances.

Dawn shut her mouth as soon as the words came out; May and I managed weak laughs. We walked the rest of the way in silence.

When we reached the Director's Office we stood outside for a moment, sizing it up. The building was modest and rather inconspicuous. If the lady hadn't circled it on the map and we hadn't been looking for it, it would have just been another building on the campus. The three of us walked in.

…Well, the inside was conspicuous. Or rather, conspicuously inconspicuous. The interior was painted completely black, giving the building an intimidating feel. There was no interior design: zero furniture, no wall décor, only a gray desk in the middle of the room behind which I could see a door, the only thing in the room that was a different color. I noticed dryly that it was painted red. Were they trying to be creepy?

The desk in the middle of the room was staffed by a young lady who looked far less approachable than the woman from the dome. Once we walked in her head snapped up from what she was doing and she stared at us intensely as we walked to the desk.

It was kind of freaky, so I averted my eyes and acted like I was looking around as we walked up. I noticed something weird. Unlike the rest of the campus, notably the main dome, this building didn't have the name or logo of Future Trajectories, Inc. anywhere in it. That was weird – this was the Director's Office, so you'd think it'd be presented prominently here.

"Can I help you?" A sharp voice cut through my thoughts and I felt May nudge me from behind.

"Uh, yes." I berated myself. I had to focus and be on my best behavior to get what I wanted. "Can we speak with the Director, please?" I smiled widely.

The woman's face remained set, unaffected by my usually irresistibly charming nature. "Do you have an appointment?"

Uggh. "No, but –"

"Then come back when you do." The woman cut in harshly.

May and Dawn were whispering to each other behind me. I was about to ask them what it was about when they both moved forward towards the woman, smiling brightly.

"Actually, I think our friend here might be mistaken," May said in as perky a tone as she could manage, putting a hand on my left shoulder.

"Yes," Dawn put a hand on my right shoulder, leaving me bewildered. "We think we actually did set up an appointment – could you check the system for us, please?"

The woman looked suspicious, but she turned to her computer. I looked at May and Dawn in turn. Their grips on my shoulders were tight with anxiety, and their faces looked hopeful. But what were they thinking? There was no way –

Of course! The lady from the dome! If she had access, she could've…

"Hm. There does seem to be an appointment here. That's funny, I didn't see it before." The woman looked bewildered. May and Dawn visibly relaxed next to me and their hands dropped off my shoulders. I made a mental note to give the dome's welcoming desk lady a profuse thank you and several hugs when next I saw her.

But the secretary's face had now reset to its default stony expression. "But there are only two names listed under this appointment." She squinted. "I have here a May and a Dawn. There are three of you." She looked at us pointedly.

I realized what happened. The dome lady must only have thought to put in the appointment after we left, so she couldn't get our names. What she did remember were the faces of Dawn and May, who'd been in her face thanking her generously. She must've matched the faces to the names using the pictures in the database, and set up an appointment for the two of them with the Director. A bummer for me, but Dawn and May would get to talk to him, which was more than enough. Boy, what a lifesaver!

"Yeah, I'm just tagging along with these two. Uh, that's why I didn't know there was an appointment or anything. Yeah." I said stupidly. Dawn turned her face to the side and suddenly coughed a cough that I suspected wasn't really a cough.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Alright, then," she said, looking at May and Dawn. "You may go in. You have fifteen minutes." She motioned to the red door behind her.

May and Dawn thanked the lady – more than I would've done, let me tell you – and met eyes with me before moving to the door at the back. They knocked and then there was a moment of silence; then a gruff, muffled response and the two walked in, shutting the door behind them.

Waiting was torture.

Because the interior of the building was so boring, I was forced to just stare blankly at the walls the whole time. Twice I started tapping my foot in impatience. Both times the secretary glared at me, and I reluctantly stopped. I then began pacing back and forth, hoping intensely that May and Dawn would be successful. I felt the secretary's glare again, but I ignored it. I would go crazy if I stood still.

Fifteen minutes must have passed, because the secretary stood up abruptly, double-checked her computer, and began walking towards the red door.

Oh, no. If she interrupted them we'd never get the information. I had to stall.

"That's a beautiful skirt you're wearing!" I blurted.

The woman stopped her hand from knocking on the door, turned towards me, and narrowed her eyes.

"I'm wearing pants," she said.

Before I could think up of something clever to bail me out of that one (yeah, right), the door opened and May and Dawn strolled out, looking pretty pleased. As Dawn shut the door behind her, May looked at me happily and I knew they'd gotten it.

They walked across the room, thanked the secretary again, and began pulling me out the door.

My happiness got the better of me: "Well, those are some nice pants!" I yelled to the secretary. I could feel her glare smoldering on the back of my head as the door shut behind us.

"So you guys got it?" I asked as I kept up with May and Dawn's speed walk. "Was he hard to convince?"

May snorted. "Not at all, once Dawn started spilling her guts to him. I'm not sure if he gave us what we wanted because she sounded sincere or because he wanted her to stop talking."

Dawn blushed. "Well your combined 'Please, Mister' and puppy-dog eyes approach wasn't really working," May blushed, "and I didn't want him to kick us out, so I just jumped in and told the truth about the whole thing."

I laughed. "Well, guys, the important thing is you got what we needed. Nice work."

The boys were already back in front of the dome when we got there. No Ash. So he probably wasn't roaming the campus, then. Hopefully that meant he'd be in his room.

"We couldn't find him around the compound," Brock reported as we walked up. "Did you guys get it?"

"Yup," I said proudly, putting my arms around May and Dawn, who grinned.

"Well, where's his room?" Max asked eagerly.

"Building 1, top floor." May said

We began walking towards the first housing building as Dawn filled in the details. "The Director told us that attendance here was so good that since Ash checked in late and the regular rooms were filled, he was given a room they weren't expecting to use. He told us it wasn't numbered, but it would be the room in the back right corner of the top floor."

We walked into Building 1 and got into the elevator. Max moved his finger up to the topmost button and pressed it. The elevator began ascending.

I tapped my foot impatiently. Surely elevators in this day and age could be faster than this.

As if on cue the elevator gave a 'ding' announcing we were at the top floor. The doors opened and we all spilled out silently.

Suddenly my mouth felt dry. I felt my heart beating in my chest a hundred miles an hour. I rubbed my dry lips with my tongue.

It was only Ash. Why was I so nervous?

Without a word we all walked towards the back right corner of the floor. We found the numberless room without a problem based on its location and stood outside it silently.

Unlike the other rooms on the floor there was light spilling out from underneath the door of this one. There was a good chance he was here.

For some reason though, we weren't doing anything. That's when I realized I was at the head of the group, directly in front of the door. They were waiting for me to knock.

I raised my fist to knock but found it trembling. I remembered my cheetah-for-a-heart and my dry mouth and knew I wouldn't be able to do anything even if Ash opened the door.

I cleared my throat and moved out of the way, pushing Brock in front of the door.

"You traveled with him the longest and you were one of the last of us to be traveling with him." I said lamely. "Maybe you'll get through to him."

Brock nodded, not caring that I'd made an excuse. He took a breath, raised his fist, and knocked firmly three times on the door.

I could feel everyone holding their breath. Then, footsteps coming towards the door.

The cheetah in my chest sped up.

I heard the lock in the door slide out and the knob turn, and then the door opened.

We all let go of the breath we were holding. Or was it just me? I couldn't tell.

It didn't matter. There was Ash.

He was standing in the doorframe straight and tall, looking at us. Seeing him close up for the first time in so long threw all my qualms to the back of my head and dipped me in nostalgia.

The messy black hair. The deep brown eyes and intense stare. The little Z's on his cheeks.

Everyone else must've been thrown back into memories as well, because nobody said anything.

"Hello," Ash said nonchalantly.

Brock, as usual, was the first to gather his wits.

"Hey, Ash! It's good to see you."

Brock extended his hand to Ash; Ash took it and they had a firm handshake.

"Everyone's been eager to talk to you." Brock said cheerily, moving aside for the rest of us.

One by one, we moved in, greeting Ash and shaking his hand, telling him how glad we were to see him. Although I was nervous before, when I was in front of him, talking to him, shaking his hand, it all disappeared. I felt comfortable, at ease, happy.

Funny thing – we organized ourselves in order of when we'd met him. After Brock I went (technically I met him first, but meh), then Tracey, then May and Max, and finally Dawn. I noticed that Dawn tried to move her hand to do something other than a handshake, but when Ash didn't follow she flushed and quickly returned to the shake.

Having been reunited, we all stood outside his room, smiling like a bunch of idiots.

Brock spoke up again. "Well, Ash, won't you invite us in?"

Ash looked at Brock. "Uh, yeah, why not?" He motioned us inside and closed the door behind us.

We took various places around the room, our eyes fixed on Ash as he moved about. When we'd settled, he stood in the center of the room, scratching his hatless head with one hand.

"Something the matter, Ash?" Brock said, moving towards him.

"Uh, yeah, actually," Ash said, his hand now resting on the back of his head.

I noticed that on the other side of the room Dawn was fidgeting a lot and looked rather put off.

Brock stood in front of Ash now. "Well, what is it?"

Ash resumed scratching his head. After a few seconds he dropped the hand and bit his lip.

"Pardon me if I'm being rude, but…"

'Pardon me'? I wanted to laugh aloud. Since when was Ash so polite?

Brock actually laughed. "Don't worry about it. Go ahead – what's eating at you?"

Ash raised his head and looked Brock straight in the eye.

"Have we met before?"

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/14/13, by 7:00 AM UTC


	11. Clean Reboot

Author's Note

Misty's POV

* * *

"Have we met before?"

Around the room, everyone froze up.

Brock was looking at Ash, searching his face. Brock looked like he couldn't decide whether to frown or to laugh. He laughed.

"Hahaha, very funny, Ash, very funny. You almost had me there, straight face and all." Brock continued laughing, waiting for Ash's expression to change.

It didn't. Instead Ash just shrugged and rubbed his head again. "I'm sorry – I really can't seem to place you right now."

Brock's laughter died in his throat. He stepped back suddenly as if the words had hit him physically.

Everyone was now standing up slowly. I found myself clutching at the wall to support myself.

Brock now looked dead serious. He moved toward Ash and held him by the shoulders. Ash and Brock searched each other's faces.

"Ash, it's me! Brock, your friend!" I realized that it wasn't seriousness in Brock's demeanor. It was fear, frozen on his face but thawing with every second Ash looked back at Brock blankly.

Brock let go of Ash's shoulders and stepped back. "He – he's serious…" Brock said in disbelief. He looked back up at Ash, then around at the rest of us. "It hasn't even been a month since we split up."

"Split up?" Ash asked blankly.

Brock looked desperate. "Before that we traveled four regions together, Ash! What –?"

I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to know…

I moved in front of Ash and met eyes with him. I tried to keep my voice level and failed. "Ash. You… you remember me, right?"

I saw the answer on his face before he verbalized it. "I'm sorry."

I stepped back involuntarily. Brock didn't even have the presence of mind to stop me from bumping into him.

So it wasn't just Brock. I'd been vain enough to hope he would respond to me, but now I didn't even care as long as he responded to someone. I looked around wildly at all the others, who were just watching, immobilized by disbelief.

I held Ash by the shoulder and motioned around the room at everyone.

"Anyone? Do you remember any of the people in this room?"

May and Dawn looked hopefully into Ash's face. Tracey had his jaw set and fist clenched. Poor Max looked like he was watching a movie playing on fast-forward and couldn't tell what was going on.

Ash sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. "No."

Imagine having the floor open up under you and plunge you into endless darkness. That's a bit like how I felt then.

May's face was frozen. Dawn looked like she was about to cry. She ran up to Ash suddenly and grabbed him by the front of the shirt.

"Stop it, Ash!" she cried. "If this is a joke, it's not funny! You don't remember me? We traveled Sinnoh together. You taught me how to throw a Poké Ball, for Arceus' sake! It's me Ash, it's Dawn, your friend!" Ash looked at her blankly. She buried her face in his shirt and sobbed. "I – It – It's me…"

Ash took Dawn gently by the shoulders and pulled her away from him. He wiped her tears away gently with the crook of his index finger and then tilted her head up by the chin and met her eyes.

Holy Ho-Oh, it was confirmed that this was not Ash.

"Well, this is Ash, alright."

Brock had moved to the other side of the room, near the bed. In his left hand he held a green backpack with red and white circles imprinted on the back. In his right he held some kind of half-ribbon, some cutlery, and…. a handkerchief and a lure shaped like me!

I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me. May rushed past me and took the half-ribbon from Brock's hand. She ran a hand over it tenderly and then walked to Ash. She unzipped her waist pack and pulled out a similar looking half-ribbon which I realized must actually be the other half.

"Look, Ash," she said softly. She fitted the two pieces together, forming a full, beautiful ribbon with a sun-like center and pink frill. "Do you remember this?"

Ash stared for a second, but then he just shook his head. May's hands dropped to her sides and she tilted her head down so her bangs hid her eyes.

"How can you not remember anything?" Max yelled suddenly. His eyes looked watery. "So you go through Hoenn and Kanto with Brock and my sister and me and you don't remember? You don't remember all the cool battles, all the legendary Pokémon? You don't remember promising to battle me one day?" His voice weakened toward the end.

"I'm sorry, little guy." Ash said regretfully. He then raised his hands suddenly. "Listen, everyone. I can see how upsetting this is and I don't mean to be insensitive, but none of you and none of the experiences you're talking about are familiar to me."

He took a breath. "But it's more than that." Ash looked around. "You guys seem like you honestly know me," I would've punched him for saying that under any other circumstances but I let it slide now, "so I guess I can tell you about it."

"You see," he said, scratching his head, "I don't even remember anything about the things in my backpack or on my person. I don't even remember anything about myself."

I stood in shock at the enormity of the statement, but apparently Max was still skeptical of everything, because he quickly countered.

"Oh, yeah?" He said bitterly. "Why are you even acting like Ash, then? And how did you introduce yourself to everyone this morning?"

Ash smiled. "You're a smart kid. But here, I'll show you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an advanced Pokédex, maybe one made for the Sinnoh region. He opened it up, pressed a few buttons, and pointed it towards Max.

"I'm Dexter, a Pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum of the town of Pallet. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."

"Of course," said Tracey, the only one who seemed to have any of his wits about him. "It explains the short introduction and the vague information he shared – name, trainer class, hometown – all information the Pokédex stores and can spit back."

"So, ah, uh, Ash." Brock was trying to get himself together. He took a deep breath. "You're telling me you know nothing about yourself except what you've deduced from your belongings?"

"That's right," replied Ash.

I took a deep breath and moved to sit on the bed. This was too much. May and Dawn sat on either side of me and we leaned on each other.

Brock put a hand over his face and I could tell how much this was affecting him. "Then what's your earliest memory?"

We all looked to Ash to hear what he would say; this would surely give us some clues.

He looked around at all of us.

"I know how weird this must be for you, to think I have memories and experiences that I don't. I'm sure it's hard. But please, you've got to see that's it's just as hard for me, if not harder. I – I've got to know I can trust you guys before I tell you anything. Could I at least have some introductions?"

Again, something I would've slapped him for if he was really… him. Boy, this would be hard.

"Alright," sighed Brock. "Just a quick overview from each of us about how we know you. I hope you can understand that we don't really want to think about the details right now." Ash nodded.

Brock cleared his throat. "My name is Brock. I was a Gym Leader before I was part of your first traveling group and ended up traveling with you the longest of anyone here. Together we journeyed through the regions of Kanto, actually twice for that one, and Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. But after Sinnoh we were going in different directions and we split up."

Tracey was the most composed, so he went next. "I'm Tracey. I was a Pokémon watcher before I met you and I joined you for your journey through the Orange Islands. Afterwards I became an assistant for Prof-," Tracey sighed, "for a Pokémon Researcher and so I had to leave the group."

"I'm Max." I was surprised Max decided to go next, but at least it meant he wasn't completely stupefied or anything. "I first saw you battle on TV in the Johto League Silver Conference and I – I thought you were a great Trainer. You stopped by my Dad's Gym one day and we met up, and then next thing you know I got to go with my sister and you on a journey through the Hoenn region and through Kanto. It – It was a dream come true, really. I would've kept traveling with you but my sister stopped, so I had to leave, too." Max's voice started cracking during the last two sentences and I felt like he cut it short to stop himself from breaking down.

"And I promised you a battle?" Ash asked gently.

Max could only nod. Ash walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"You'll get it, Max. We'll sort this out and you'll get just the battle you want, wait and see."

Max didn't say anything. Ash sighed and looked up for the next person.

My voice left my mouth without my brain telling it to – not that my brain had yet caught up enough with what was going on to do any telling anyway. "I'm Misty." It felt bitter in my mouth, having to introduce myself to my best friend. "I was a Water Pokémon Trainer from the Cerulean Gym in Kanto and I wanted to be a Water Pokémon Master. When you came along journeying through Kanto I thought it was a good opportunity for me and I joined up with you for the experience," I neglected to mention my bike or the other things that had drawn me to travel with him, "and became, along with Brock, part of your first traveling group. I traveled with you through the Kanto region, the Orange Islands, and the Johto region. I had to leave after Johto because I had to take charge of the Cerulean City Gym." I took a moment to mentally curse my sisters.

Ash smiled genuinely at me and I found it hard to resist the temptation to associate him with all the old experiences and feelings. May spoke up, breaking me out of it.

"My name's May." She said softly. "I – I met you when you first came to Hoenn to travel and I just kind of tagged along. Everyone expected me to be a trainer, but I didn't really want to, and traveling with you helped me decide I wanted to be a Coordinator. I participated in contests throughout Hoenn while you competed in Gyms, and after we went through Hoenn we took on Kanto: you for the Battle Frontier and me for more Contests. It – It was a blast." She looked down. "I had to leave the group because I wanted to go to Johto for Contests with the rest of my rivals and you'd already been through there."

Ash nodded and turned to the last person: Dawn. The poor girl – her face was flushed, her eyes were teary, and on the whole she looked in pretty bad shape. I realized that she must have a strong connection to Ash. I berated myself mentally: of course she did – I knew firsthand what it was like to travel with and bond with him. In addition, she'd spent the least time away from him out of all us, except Brock. The change would feel a lot more sudden for her, explaining all the shock. May and I put hands on the girl's shoulders.

Dawn sniffled. I didn't think she'd be able to talk but she did. I was surprised, but I shouldn't have been - she was, after all, one of Ash's traveling partners and was surely tough at the core. "I'm Dawn. I always knew I wanted to be a Coordinator and you – you – showed me how. You weren't even a Coordinator, but I was a beginner and you taught me all about Pokémon, not just through what you said to me but through the way you battled and the way you were with your Pokémon." She sniffled and cleared her throat. "We traveled together through the Sinnoh region. You participated in Gym Battles and I participated in Contests. Afterwards I had to take one of my Pokémon somewhere and I wasn't sure about my plans so… so we split up. Oh, Arceus, that wasn't even a month ago." She sobbed quietly to herself. I noticed May had started to as well.

And, Holy Ho-Oh I was, too. I didn't bother wiping the tears off to try to put on a strong front. It didn't seem to matter right now.

"Thank you all for that," Ash said gently. "I know it wasn't easy but it's helped me out a lot."

"How?" Max challenged harshly.

Ash shrugged. "I wouldn't have believed it before, but based on what you guys have told me, you're my best friends."

We all waited for Ash to continue.

"If I've got my stories straight, I traveled through Kanto with Misty and Brock, the Orange Islands with Misty and Tracey, Johto with Brock and Misty, Hoenn and the Kanto Battle Frontier with May, Max, and Brock, and Sinnoh with Dawn and Brock. Shortly after Sinnoh something caused me to forget all this, and now we're all here. But you all say I was a Trainer. And everyone who's ever journeyed with me on my travels as a Trainer is in this room. You all are probably therefore some of the most important people in my life, and that's important to know for me before I go on."

It wasn't hard logic, but the realization only kicked in when he said it. If Ash had said it himself (well, the remembering Ash) the pause that followed would have been tender and emotional, but now it just felt stressful.

"Hold on," Max said, still unsatisfied. "If you didn't know any of this before, how do we even know you're really Ash? You could just be someone who looks like him who took his possessions and who's trying to take his place!" Max pointed his finger accusingly.

It was the most liberating explanation. If we accepted it, we could believe that Ash was still out there just like his old self and we just had to find him. But if we accepted what was going on, then we had to accept that Ash himself had been compromised, which was much harder. Sure, I wanted to believe that this was just some impersonator feigning memory loss and not actually Ash, but…

"No, it's Ash." To my surprise my voice came out at triple the volume I'd intended and found that May and Dawn had spoken with me.

The boys were looking at us.

"How do you know?" Tracey asked.

"It's Ash," Dawn said adamantly.

"Just trust us," May followed up.

"It's a girl thing," I said to keep any questions at bay.

Max's shoulders slumped. Tracey rubbed his back.

"So there's no way around it." Brock said. "You're Ash, just… different now. So, now can you tell us what your earliest memory is? Might shed some light on this… situation."

Ash nodded. "Yes, I know I can trust you, now." He took a deep breath. We all leaned forward. "My earliest memory is coming to consciousness in a wooded grove somewhere. I had no idea why I was there or how I got there or who I was. I was actually lying up in a tree when I woke up, which made things even more absurd. When I came to, I got down from the tree and tried to find my bearings, but everything still felt muddled and fuzzy; I felt weak and I sat down for a while."

There was complete silence in the room as everyone listened. You could've heard a pin drop.

"But before I could get myself together a man came by. I was still groggy then so I can't remember all the details, but I do remember that he was dressed in a long brown trench coat and was very official-looking. He addressed me by the name I later found on the Pokédex, Ash, as if he knew me. But he looked like he was in a rush and I don't think he realized I didn't recognize him. He just helped me up and took me to a path through the forest. He pointed one way and told me to book it as fast as I could to someplace called 'Viridian City'; then he wished me luck, bid me goodbye, and took off in the opposite direction of where he'd pointed. I wanted to follow him and ask him questions about what was going on, but I realized I'd better just follow the advice he'd given me, so I went to Viridian City."

"Did this guy introduce himself?" I asked. Ash shook his head.

"Like I said, I think he thought I knew him already."

Tracey spoke up. "If he knew you, chances are you met him on one of your journeys, which means chances are one of us met him, too. Anyone remember a guy by that description?"

Thoughtful expressions, then slow head shakes all around.

"Alright, we'll continue thinking on that, but Ash," Brock asked curiously, "what about the team of Pokémon you have on hand? Did you wake up in that forest with them?"

"No." Ash shook his head. "I had no idea even what my name was or of the fact that I was a Trainer until I started searching my clothes for clues and found the Pokédex. It told me my name, my hometown, and that I was a Trainer. But it wasn't until even later I found the belt for Poké Balls on my waist and even then I didn't realize what it was for at first."

"So you didn't have any Poké Balls on the belt when you came to?" Dawn asked. "How about Pika –," she closed her eyes and sighed, "I mean, was there a little yellow mouse-like Pokémon around anywhere?"

Ash shook his head again. "Neither of those."

"Then where'd the six Pokémon you have on hand now come from?" asked May.

"They came to me," said Ash seriously. "While I was wandering around Viridian City, one by one each of them just came to me. They seemed like they knew me and they made me feel safe. Eventually I found out how to put them in Poké Balls and I did so."

We all looked at Ash amazingly. "That's incredible." Brock said. I thought it was worth mentioning how those Pokémon were significant to Ash, who didn't know, but Ash cut back in to finish retelling events.

"Yeah, it was. I waited for a while after the sixth Pokémon, Butterfree, came, but I saw there were only six spots on the waist belt and when no other Pokémon showed up I figured that was it. I decided to try to figure out more about myself by looking more thoroughly through my backpack." Ash walked over to his backpack and reached in, pulling out a manila envelope. "Sure enough I found a letter addressed to me from this place, PokéCamp, and thought coming here would be the best way to figure things out. I used a computer in a place called the Pokémon Center to sign up, and then flew from Viridian City to Vermilion City on Charizard. From there I made it here and checked in this morning; I made it to my first class a little late, and from there on you guys know the rest."

I looked around the room incredulously, seeing if the others could believe this. From the looks of it, they didn't know what to think, but Ash had sounded completely sincere in what he'd said.

"So do any of you know what's up with me?" Ash asked.

Oh, I wish I did Ash, I wish I did.

Brock took the reins. "I don't, but based on the timetable you're telling me your memory doesn't go back very far. Assuming that, before that earliest memory of you waking up clueless in the forest, everything was ok with you, that means you were doing fine for a while after the two of us split up, which was when I had to return to Pewter City and you had to go to Pallet Town."

I could see where Brock's logic was going. "Which means after splitting up Ash probably made it home fine and spent a while there before all of this happened. So if we want to fill in some more details, we'd better find out what went on in Pallet Town after Ash got back and before he lost his memory. So…" I glanced at Brock.

"Yes," Brock said. "It's about time we made a call to Mrs. Ketchum."

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/18/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


	12. The Plan

Author's Note

Misty's POV

* * *

Ash didn't remember his mother.

I felt bitter just thinking it. Ash had always been traveling and he didn't really keep in touch with Mrs. Ketchum during his travels, but when he was home I saw that he was a loving son and Mrs. Ketchum was a doting mother practically out of a storybook. I remembered how kind she was and how well she treated Brock and me when we came by.

_Like her own children._

Just thinking about how fervent a mother Mrs. Ketchum was brought Butterfree to my stomach as we walked into the dome. Since Ash didn't remember her, chances were he didn't meet her after his memory wipe.

We were his friends and we were taking it this bad.

If Mrs. Ketchum saw Ash like this…

We'd reached the videophone booth. I cleared my throat.

"Brock, would you be ok giving the news to Mrs. Ketchum? I don't want to just spring the situation on her by throwing Ash in there."

Brock nodded wordlessly. I was sorry he had to be the heavy, but I was glad he didn't ask me why it had to be him. I'd have to tell him that I just couldn't handle it.

Brock pulled a pocketbook out of his backpack and flipped the pages until he found the entry for Mrs. Ketchum. He dialed in the number, took a breath, and hit the "Call" button.

I held my breath, waiting for Mrs. Ketchum's usual eager, happy face to appear on the screen before we had to tear down her world.

_RING!_

_RING!_

_RING!_

_RING!_

"Hello, Ketchums here!"

"Mrs. Ke-"

"Sorry, but we're not home at the moment! Please leave us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!"

There was a beep and the word "voicemail" popped up on the screen in big letters. Brock stared at the screen for a second, surprised, and then gathered himself.

"Uh, hi, Mrs. Ketchum. This is Brock and I'm here at, uh – well, I'm with Ash and the rest of the gang here and I need to talk to you about something serious. Regarding Ash. So, uh, please call back here as soon as possible. Thanks."

Brock hung up and turned to the rest of us, troubled.

"That's odd," I said. "Mrs. Ketchum rarely goes out."

"Maybe she's in the garden," May offered.

"She leaves the door open when she goes in the yard. She would've heard it ring and she never misses a call when she can help it," I countered.

"Out for groceries?" Max asked.

Brock shook his head. "Usually Mr. Mime handles stuff like that. Even if she did go out, then Mr. Mime would be at home and lift the phone."

Tracey spoke up. "Maybe she's visiting with the Professor?" He scratched his head. "And maybe Mr. Mime went with to help with… tea?"

Brock and I met eyes. We were both very familiar with Mrs. Ketchum's behaviors. Most people did miss the phone every once in a while, but Mrs. Ketchum was different. Ash was her world and she'd structured her life around him. Him traveling meant her always arranging to have her phone attended, whether by Mr. Mime or herself. Emotional explanations aside, it was plain unusual for Mrs. Ketchum to not pick up her phone, and it wasn't sitting well with Brock or me.

"Is anything the matter? Can't we just wait for her to call back?" Ash's voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked at him, still trying to separate my old feelings and experiences with him from the new profile I had to make for him.

"Everything's fine; yeah, we'll just wait for her to call back." Brock said. "Tracey's theory is probably correct."

Tracey himself didn't look so sure. But suddenly his eyes lit up. "Hey, there's something I've been meaning to do anyway, and there's all the more reason to do it now." He moved to the videophone.

"Who're you calling?" Max asked, as we gathered around him.

"Professor Oak." Of course! Next to Mrs. Ketchum, he'd be seeing Ash the most in Pallet! I moved close to the videophone, hoping my face would show up on the screen. Boy, would it be nice to see the Professor again and get some solid, scientific advice on this matter.

Tracey dialed in the number from memory and hit the "call" button, grinning.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three.

Four.

"Hello, you've reached Professor Oak's laboratory. I am currently unavailable at the moment, but please leave a message and I shall do my utmost to get back you as soon as possible. Thank you."

Tracey's brow furrowed and I imagined similar thoughts were running through his head with regards to Professor Oak as had run through mine with regards to Mrs. Ketchum.

"Hey, Professor, it's Tracey. I just wanted to check on how you were doing and how things were going around the lab. And I also have a few questions to ask you about the last time you saw Ash. If you could get back to me as soon as you can, that'd be great. Thanks." Tracey ended the call.

"Well, there goes my theory." Tracey said thoughtfully.

"How so?" asked Max.

"If Mrs. Ketchum were visiting with Professor Oak, they'd likely be inside chatting, right next to the phone." Tracey explained. "So Ash's mother probably isn't there, and Professor Oak is probably caught up in one of his experiments or outside with the Pokémon or something." Again, Tracey looked unsure.

"Hey, hold on!" Dawn said suddenly. She looked to Tracey. "Didn't you say before that you got your invitation because of your Pokémon research? Then Professor Oak would've gotten one, too?"

"Yeah, but I didn't get to talk to him between when I got the letter and when I came here." Tracey said. "But…"

Dawn nodded. "What if he accepted the invitation? He could be around here somewhere!"

"Good point!" Tracey said. "He may be attached to his work, but the Professor always encouraged learning out in the field and from other trainers. If he got an invitation, I'd bet on him accepting."

Professor Oak, here? That'd be great! The only problem was…

"How do we find out whether he accepted and where he is?" I piped up.

We looked at each other and then all of us simultaneously turned to look at the front desk. The extremely helpful lifesaver lady was sitting there, minding her own business.

"What's up?" Ash asked. Poor guy – he looked completely bewildered. I couldn't imagine how it felt to not have any memories and feel completely out of context all the time.

Dawn put her hand on Ash's shoulder. Watching her do that made me feel weird. Maybe because I felt I should be doing it or maybe… Oh, I don't know.

"Bear with us, Ash," she said. "We're just trying to figure out a way to get in touch with someone who can help us with your… situation."

Ash nodded in the affirmative but he still looked lost. Only one way to fix that. We had to get to the bottom of this.

"So," I prodded. "We know she's super-nice but we also know she has strict orders and she won't disobey them easily. She bailed us out last time but even then she made us go through the Camp Director." I glanced at Dawn and May. "And I'm not sure if the Director will be so… cooperative… with a second request from the same people."

Max cleared his throat. Light flashed across his glasses as he adjusted them. "Ahem, there is a way for us to get access to what we need."

May folded her arms. "Oh, yeah? And what way is that?"

"My way." Max grinned, looking at his sister. "It's been at the back of mind since you, Misty, and Dawn mentioned that that woman," he gestured to the lifesaver lady, "had access to change the Camp Director's schedule."

He waited. I wasn't sure what for, but May rolled her eyes and threw her hands up. "Alright, I'll bite! What's been at the back of your mind?"

Max grinned widely. "When we first came to her and she refused to give us the information on Ash, I thought maybe she wouldn't even have access. But after you three confirmed that she did, I've been thinking… All the information related to and involving this camp should be in that woman's computer."

"Which means…" May's exasperation had disappeared behind genuine interest now.

Max pulled his backpack off and dug around inside. "Which means…" He pulled out a pouch and opened it up, revealing various wires and gadgets. He grinned again. "If I have physical access to her computer for just a little while, I can get all the information we need."

Silence.

There was a part of me that felt bad for thinking to cheat the lady who'd been so kind and who'd helped us out before. The part of me that won the battle, though, felt like this was necessary for Ash's sake.

"If anyone's uncomfortable with this, by all means, sit out." I said firmly. "But I feel like we need to get this info. So as long as it's alright with you, May," I looked at the Coordinator, "I'm going to take Max and get it."

May walked up to Max and flicked his forehead. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked indignantly.

May crossed her arms. "For suggesting such a cheap solution and having the means to do it." She sighed. "But I think it's necessary, too, Misty. I'm in."

"Me, too." Dawn said.

Brock and Tracey agreed as well.

Ash shrugged. "I'm still not completely sure what's going on, but if you're all in it for me, you'd better bet I'm in, too."

We all smiled. Even without his memory, he still felt like good old Ash in some ways.

It took a few minutes to figure out the plan.

When it was all figured out, we lounged around, waiting. What were we waiting for? The lobby to empty, that's what. We couldn't have witnesses.

I shook my head. Witnesses? Obviously my brain was convinced this was a crime.

It was getting late. After a while, the inner dome closed for the night; after that, we waited until lobby traffic dwindled until there was nobody left save for the lady and us. Then we shared a silent nod. It was time to execute The Plan.

**The Plan, Stage 1: Apparently Stupid Random Guy as Distraction**

Tracey walked casually past the welcoming desk to the turnstiles on the right. He acted like he was trying to push through, but obviously the turnstile wouldn't move since the inner dome was closed for the day. He continued trying to push through and then turned towards the lady.

"Excuse me!" he called.

The lady turned to look at Tracey.

**The Plan, Stage 2: Set-Up for The Plan, Stage 5**

"Go!" May whispered forcefully to Max.

Max, armed – armed… Holy Ho-Oh, what was wrong with me? – with his technical pouch scurried across the lobby while the woman's head was turned. He squatted under the counter of the welcoming desk and waited.

By now Tracey had complained to the lady and she was responding. "Sorry, sir, but the inner dome is closed for the day. Whatever you need, it'll have to wait until tomorrow."

**The Plan, Stage 3: Witness Prevention Program**

Tracey complied and left the building. Or so the woman thought… In reality, Tracey was implementing the second phase of his role. The mega-important, ultra-evil, and totally diabolical part where he stands watch outside to make sure we're not interrupted.

Alright, I've lost it.

Brock gave the signal and as a group we began moving across the lobby. The five of us immediately drew her attention. We walked towards the right side of her desk, so she'd have to turn away from her computer to talk to us like she had with Tracey. See, we could've had Tracey try to distract the woman himself while Max did his thing, but Max wasn't sure Tracey alone would buy him enough time (though Tracey was indignant at this), so we'd arranged to use Tracey to hide Max first and then all of us move in to have a better chance of keeping the woman distracted.

Yes, we'd thoroughly thought this out.

We had, as you can you see, a complex, multiphase operation planned. Contingencies for contingencies. You'd be surprised at the evil capacity of the gang. I certainly was. I'm sure poor, unremembering Ash was assured by this point that all his friends were thugs.

Brock moved to the head of the group and I remembered myself.

**The Plan, Stage 4A: Casanova Makes an Appearance**

We reached the lady's desk. Brock immediately got down on one knee.

"Oh, the radiance of your beauty far outshines…" Yeah, blahdee-blah-blah, Brock was all too eager for this part of the plan.

I watched the woman carefully, waiting until she lost interest, got suspicious, or –

There! She was starting to look around nervously!

**The Plan, Stage 4B: Casanova Makes a Disappearance**

With relish – I suppose _I_ was all too eager for this part – I grabbed Brock's ear tightly and began to drag him away. The unsuspecting, kind woman's face immediately deepened in worry and she put an arm out and nearly opened her mouth to say something for Brock's well-being. She probably decided not to in the interest of her own well-being. Regardless, we got her attention. Which meant…

**The Plan, Stage 5: The Actual Plan**

Max saw me dragging Brock away and noticed the woman's engagement, which were his signals. Immediately he slipped in through the opening in the desk and moved to the woman's computer. He opened up his pouch and started speedily moving wires and gadgets around and messing with the woman's computer as quietly as possible.

By now I'd dragged Brock sufficiently far away to permanently damage the man's ear and, more importantly, begin losing the woman's interest. I deposited Brock in a heap and moved back to the desk.

**The Plan, Stage 6: Pretty Little Liars**

"Hello!" Dawn was saying perkily as I reached the desk again, putting on my best smile.

"Oh." The lady said, recognizing us and smiling. "It's you guys! So, tell me, how did your meeting with the Director go?"

"_Huge_ success, thanks to you," May said emphatically. "If it hadn't been for your help, we never, ever, ever would have been able to find our friend!" she finished hysterically.

Alright, May, overdoing it.

The lady, however, was too flattered to notice. She flushed and raised a shoulder coyly. "Well, what can I say? I am a sucker for friendship. I had to do everything I could to make sure you guys were successful. So?" She looked behind us and then winked at the three of us discreetly. "Is that him?"

The three of us turned around for effect so Ash had four girls staring him in the face.

Ash waved awkwardly at us.

I felt like face palming myself. Memory loss, maybe, but his character was completely intact.

The three of us turned back to face the woman with the brightest smiles we could manage. To our joint surprise, the woman was waving back at Ash rather genuinely.

I took advantage of the moment to look behind the woman to Max. He was typing away as quietly but frantically as he could on the keyboard. Judging by the scrunched-up look of his face, things would take a little longer.

"Wow." My eyes snapped back to the lady. She lowered her head so Ash couldn't hear, but her eyes remained on him. "He's hot."

Wooah, lady, hold your horses. That's not part of the plan.

**The Plan, Unplanned Stage 7: Negate The Plan**

Without thinking, Dawn, May, and I turned to look at Ash again. He was still standing awkwardly, but I put that aside for a moment.

I drank in the sight of him with fresh eyes, and only now did I feel the old files dissociating from the new ones. All the small, new things hit me at once – the tall posture; the focused eyes; the – combed?! – hair; the grounded, serious demeanor; the easy confidence he seemed to be radiating.

Alright, I admit it, he was always cute, but…

Holy Ho-Oh, Ash was hot.

The three of us turned back slowly to face the woman. She had a mischievous look on her face.

"So? Which of you three cuties is going out with him?"

The three of us stared at her.

"None of us!" I cried.

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"All of us!" Dawn blurted.

The woman raised both eyebrows.

May somehow managed to not blurt anything stupid out. She very levelheadedly explained how both of us had somehow spoken the truth. Something about each of us going out with him at different times, taking breaks, etc.

With May getting that under control – thank Ho-Oh – I decided to do what I should've been doing.

**The Plan, Stage 8: Un-Negate The Plan**

I looked to Max. He was now a little calmer, working with the computer mouse and sliding it around. He turned, met eyes with me, and held up one finger.

One minute.

We could certainly handle that. I brought my attention back to the woman.

**The Plan, Stage – **

Oh, no. May had just finished her explanation, saying that apparently Ash was now single and available. The woman nodded, but the way May had ended the explanation apparently made it sound like a conversation closer.

"Well, if you guys are all set, then, I'm thinking of closing up shop here and turning in for the night. Is there anything else you needed?" The lady asked.

Oh, no. We'd entered the final stages of the conversation, which eliminated our ability to implement most of the remaining planned stages.

I really didn't want to hurt this woman, but it looked like we didn't have a choice. Max still needed time, and there was no other way.

I made a fist with my left hand under the table, which was the signal for Brock.

"Hold on," I said sinisterly. "There is one thing. We still haven't thanked you properly for everything you've done for us."

The lady put a hand to her face. "Oh, you don't have to – "

I waved her statement away with my hand, which was the second signal.

**The Plan, The Forbidden Stage: Exotic Dancer**

Dawn, May, and I all moved aside. I pulled Ash out of the way just in time.

Brock slid into place in front of the desk, head tilted down. He was wearing a purple and red outfit with pink frilled sleeves and a brown sombrero. In each of his hands he held a Poké Ball maraca and his hands were poised in front of him.

"Wha~?" The lady said, bewildered.

Brock sprang into action so fast the lady jumped two feet in the air.

"La la la la la la,  
I kinda like this song,  
La la la la la la,  
Why don't you sing along?"

Brock was shaking his maracas vigorously and moving to and fro in front of the woman. Hopefully Max would be done soon; judging by the pallor of the lady's face, we had about a minute before she went into cardiac arrest.

"La la la la la la,  
I sing my la la la,  
For the Girls.  
For! The! Girls! Yeah! Mmm!"

As Brock struck his final pose proudly, waiting for applause that would never come, I looked back at Max. He was standing up at the computer and he nodded to me.

He was done.

**The Plan, Stage 9: Exit Exotic Dancer**

I pushed Brock out of the way and Dawn, May, and I moved in front of her, with Ash behind. Luckily, the lady was still alive.

Max had left the desk area and was moving across the lobby stealthily.

**The Plan, Stage 10: Extract**

"Well, that's about all." I said to the woman, all smiles.

The lady just stared at me. "Uh, ok. Um, that was interesting. Kind of."

Dawn, May, and I laughed heartily. "Hope you enjoyed it!" May said. Yeah, right.

"Uh, yeah. Good night." She said, managing a smile after all the torture. Man, what an angel.

"Good night!" Dawn chirped in response.

I discreetly checked on Max and did a double take. Max was waving his arms wildly towards me, shaking his head. He was moving back towards the lady's computer.

I looked. No! The lady's head was already turning back…

**The Plan, Stage ∞: Misty Waterflower**

"Wait!" I cried.

The lady's head snapped towards me.

Phew. I saw Max rush in and reach behind the computer.

"Hm?" The lady, Dawn, and May were all looking at me expectantly.

"That's a beautiful skirt you're wearing!" I blurted.

Behind her, Max had gotten whatever he needed and rushed back out from the desk. He was already halfway back across the lobby. I took a breath.

The lady turned to face me fully, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms.

"I'm wearing pants," she deadpanned.

Does no one wear skirts these days?

Beside me, May and Dawn were coughing uncontrollably. Hmph.

"Oh, ha-ha, silly me," I rubbed my head sheepishly, and then rubbed my eyes. "Well, it is getting late."

The woman laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, it is. Oh, and girls?"

"Hm?" The lady leaned towards us and three of us reciprocated.

"If none of you pick it back up with that hottie, drop me a line, ok?" she winked at us.

We stood there, flabbergasted, until Ash shepherded us from behind.

"Good night," he called cordially to the woman.

"Good night!" The woman called back all too flirtatiously.

By the time Dawn, May, and I had figured out how to move our mouths we were outside with Tracey, Brock, and Max.

Everyone looked expectantly at Max. Max drew himself to his full height and was about to speak when May cut in.

"Max! What was going on there at the end? You almost got – "

"Relax, sis." Moonlight flashed across Max's glasses as he adjusted them with his left hand. He raised his right hand; in it was a small black pen drive. "I got it."

We all met eyes.

**The Plan, Final Stage: Recover Ash Ketchum.**

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 07/22/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


	13. A Rival's Test

Author's Note

Misty's POV

* * *

The first thing we all wanted to do, of course, was head back to one of our rooms and check out the info Max had on his pen drive. We were about to do just that when there was a loud grumbling noise.

We all turned towards the source. Ash was holding his stomach and rubbing his head sheepishly.

Some things never changed.

That being said, we had gotten caught up in things and forgotten all about dinner. It was fully dark out now, I'd say around nine o'clock.

A lesser but still formidable grumble came from May. Brock had once told me she was almost as big an eater as Ash, but considering her figure I found it hard to believe. Then again, the same could be said for Ash.

"I really want to look into those files," May said, "but I'm also really hungry. You guys think we could stop and grab some dinner?"

Brock laughed. "Yeah, of course. We can't do much on empty stomachs, now can we?"

I laughed lightly along with everyone else and we headed off to the cafeteria. I wasn't sure whether it'd still be open at this time, but as we approached, I saw the building was fully lit and there was even traffic going in and out. I was impressed; they'd really thought about being flexible and accessible for trainers.

When we walked in, we were greeted by the pleasant smell of warm food, and I suddenly felt ravenous myself.

"Noodles!" May shrieked. She was about to zip over to get in line when a serious voice cut in.

"Took you long enough."

The purple-haired trainer Ash had battled with earlier today – Paul, Brock had told me his name was – was approaching us stiffly.

He stopped in front of us and crossed his arms, looking at Ash. "I figured waiting here to find you was a foolproof plan, since you'd have to come in for dinner." He shifted. "I didn't realize foolproof would mean four hours of waiting."

It would have been amusing from anyone else, but he made it sound dry and not at all humorous. I was starting to get the feeling that this guy wasn't really the rainbows and sunshine type.

This didn't seem to bother Brock, who chuckled good-naturedly. "Well, sorry we kept you waiting, Paul; we got a little caught up with… stuff." Brock glanced at all of us. "Uh, what did you need us for?"

"Not all of you," Paul said coldly. "Just him," he nodded at Ash.

Ash crossed his arms. "Ok, what –"

"Uhhh, actually, sorry, Paul, but Ash is starving and he can't really talk right now." Dawn cut in. "I hope you don't mind if he gets back to you later."

Dawn took Ash by the arm and started dragging him to get food, ignoring Ash's protests that he could wait. May and Max followed close behind.

Brock, Tracey, and I were left standing awkwardly with Paul, who was looking suspiciously after Ash.

Obviously, Brock was incapable of being rude. "Sorry about that Paul, but if you really need to talk with him you can come over and sit with us if you'd like. Maybe you want to grab some food, too, seeing as you've been here a while."

Paul just nodded and went to get some food. We followed.

"Is it just me or is that guy kind of cold?" Tracey muttered to Brock.

Brock shrugged. "He's like that. You get used to it after a while. In general though, the guy's got integrity and character – he's not a bad person. Although his training methods are a bit of a gray area."

Brock had mentioned this earlier today and I wanted to ask him about it now. We were standing in line behind Paul though, so it probably wasn't a good idea.

Everyone grabbed their food and headed back to the group table. I noticed as I was sitting down that May had several bowls of noodles on her tray and she was slurping away without a care in the world. So Brock wasn't exaggerating.

Dawn, on the other hand, had taken little and looked apprehensive when Paul sat down at our table.

I realized then why Dawn had pulled Ash away. If Ash had talked with Paul, it would have been quickly apparent to Paul about Ash's memory wipe. Dawn must not have liked the idea of him knowing.

I thought back to the battle earlier today and how happy Dawn had been when Ash had won.

My eyes snapped to Dawn. It occurred to me that she was just trying to preserve the status quo from the earlier battle. If Paul found out Ash's memory was wiped, he might write off the battle as a fluke. Dawn wanted Paul to take his loss to Ash seriously as the outcome of a match between rivals.

Or at least that was my theory. I slurped up some noodles. Mm. Maybe May's portion size was justified.

"What's going on?"

My eyes snapped up from my food. Paul had addressed the question towards Ash, who was looking back coolly. "What do you mean?"

"You tell me," Paul said aggressively. "I've been waiting here all this time to get an answer to that question."

Dawn butted in. "Why do you think something's going on?"

Paul looked at her as if he hadn't noticed she was there until then. But he seemed reasonably familiar with her and he answered levelly.

"Don't play games with me." His gaze turned back on Ash and his tone became accusing. "Your League hat's gone. Your beloved Pikachu is nowhere in sight. The team you have on hand is completely unfamiliar. You're ridiculously levelheaded, which is unusual."

Now Paul leaned forward to emphasize his last point. "And our battle was all wrong."

Dawn opened her mouth, but Paul put a hand up. "It was fair, I agree. You played by the rules all the way. What was completely wrong was your style."

Dawn again tried to speak up. "What are you –"

"Don't think you can fool me," Paul said coldly. "I may not be one of your little friends, but in my opinion rivals know each other just as well as any two friends. The way you reacted to situations, the way your strategies were set up, they weren't _you_. Even the way you threw your Poké Balls was wrong."

"And I'll be perfectly honest with you: what I've been thinking about these past few hours was, how could you beat me 6-0?" Paul slapped his hand down on the table. "It hasn't even been a month since the Sinnoh League, and while I acknowledge your win over me wholly, it was 6-5 for you! You're telling me in a month you got that much better? I don't buy it. Now tell me what's up."

I was astonished. From one battle this guy had deduced all this? He must be pretty shrewd to conclude something was wrong with Ash and be so decisive about it. I could certainly see how he was a rival for Ash.

Ash finally spoke. "You're right, something is up."

Dawn cut in again. "Ash, you don't have to tell him anything if you don't want to."

Ash shook his head. "I told you guys because you convinced me you were my true friends and because I felt like I owed it to you; I need to tell Paul because he's convinced me he's my true rival and because I feel like I owe it to him." Paul raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt. "See, Paul," Ash said heavily, "I've lost my memories. Everything. Before this morning, I remember nothing."

For the first time since I'd encountered him, Paul looked surprised. He actually stood up from his seat. "Are you serious?"

Ash nodded gravely. "Yes. If you think about it in context with everything you mentioned earlier, it should – at least, my friends tell me – make sense."

Ash filled in the other details he'd told us and Paul processed them silently.

"It seems like a petty question now, but I can't help but ask, how did that make your battling so much stronger?"

"I have a theory," Brock offered. "See, Ash's memory wipe removed all his individual memories and experiences battling, which would make it seem like he'd be a weaker battler, but what if the takeaways from those experiences are already ingrained in him, like muscle memory? He wouldn't be able to pinpoint where his moves or strategies come from, but he would feel like they're the right ones to use."

Ash snapped his fingers. "Yes, that would make sense. All I knew going into the battle were my Pokémon's moves. But throughout the battle I combined my observations with my gut feelings and that's what worked for me."

Tracey nodded. "The removal of his distinct memories would also remove his need to think over them during battle; it would essentially wipe out things like hesitation and inhibitions. While battling he'd be using his gut instincts completely."

It made sense, in a surreal way. Basically take Ash, remove the hesitation and clumsiness, and multiply his gut by ten. It made for a potent battler.

"It makes sense," Paul agreed. "But one more thing isn't sitting with me about your story. I mean, aside from the obvious question of how you lost your memories."

Ash raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Your team of Pokémon. You claim none of them were ones you had on hand before or with a caretaker – they were all ones you released at some point."

"Yeah, my friends told me – I wouldn't have known otherwise." Ash said.

"Ok, but then how'd you form a team to bring here out of Pokémon you released? After being released a Pokémon is no longer bound to its Trainer at all. Maybe, just maybe, if you went looking for it, it could recognize you and maybe, just maybe, it would return to you." Paul's brow furrowed. "But you're telling me that, when you didn't call them, you had no knowledge at all of them, and you were in the urban location of Viridian City, six Pokémon you released at different times in different places just 'came to you'? That's just…"

"Incredible," Brock offered.

"Awesome!" Max exclaimed.

"Ridiculous." Paul decided, shaking his head. "It's –"

"It's true." Ash said simply.

I sat silently, thinking. Paul had brought up a good point. It had seemed a minor point before, given we'd found out just then that Ash had lost all his memories. We'd written it off as an amazing occurrence, but nothing more. But it hadn't sat with me completely either, for the same logical points Paul had raised. Maybe it was a question worth exploring.

"Hey," I got everyone's attention. "It's a good question. We can't do much about Butterfree, Lapras, or Pidgeot, but the other three were all left in the care of people we can contact. We should get in touch and find out exactly what happened with the Pokémon. It may give us some clues as to how Ash lost his memory."

"The mystery of how his Pokémon came to him is interesting, but," Paul shrugged, "is how he lost his memory really relevant?"

I stared at Paul along with all the others. Max gathered his voice first, possibly out of anger.

"Of course it is! If we don't find out how it happened, how can we reverse it?"

Paul raised an eyebrow. "Reverse it? How do you know you can?"

I felt like Paul had taken my own mallet and driven it into my head. The thought that Ash's memories could be gone for good hadn't even occurred to me.

The implications would be… The old Ash, the real Ash, never coming back. All our experiences together wiped from his consciousness forever.

Could I live with that?

Max was trying for a rebuttal. "We – we have to find a way! We have to try, at –"

"Why?" Paul shrugged again. "Even if you could restore his memories, why would you?"

"WHAT?" May had stopped inhaling noodles and now nearly stood up from her seat. Ash's hand on her shoulder kept her from blowing up. "How can you even ask that question?"

"Just think about it instead of letting your sentiment get in the way," Paul asserted. "It's no secret what Ash's dream always was – he made it known to the entire world. He wanted to be a Pokémon Master. That means being the best battler there is. And look how good he is now. You may all miss the old Ash for who he was to you, but any of you would be lying to yourselves if you said he was a better battler then than he is now."

"But –" Dawn tried interjecting.

"Why would you revert him back to a weaker state?" Paul challenged. "If you're all really his friends, wouldn't you push him in the direction of his dream? And isn't he closest to it the way he is now? Would Ash _want_ to be restored if it took him farther from his dream?"

I was frozen in place. When I'd found out Ash had lost his memories, it had been first instinct to mourn. Second instinct was to look for a way to get them back. But… Would it even be what Ash wanted? Would I be selfish to want to restore Ash because I wanted him back? Would Ash… want himself this way?

The most basic thing about Ash.

_I want to be a Pokémon Master!_

The thing that defined him.

_To be the very best, like no one ever was._

I felt like someone was squeezing my heart very hard. Suddenly I felt sick to my stomach.

Writing off the old Ash forever… Ash would… want that?

"Enough, Paul." Ash's voice felt like it came from very far away, but it slowly pulled me out of the raging currents of my thoughts. "Don't mess with my friends' heads."

"Just testing them." Paul smirked and stood up. "You better straighten them out, Ketchum, before they get lost in the maze of sentiment your old self is inspiring."

Paul walked towards the exit, then turned around and looked backed seriously. "I want a real battle with you. The real Ash. As you are now you aren't really my rival – I hate to admit it, but you're far above me. I want my rival back, so your restoration is in my interest as well." Paul cleared his throat. "I have an idea. It may or may not work, but battling is always what got through to you, so we may as well try – if you're interested, meet me tomorrow at the end of the day in the Battle Area. I may not have been able to jog your mind, but I think I can bring someone who can." Paul tossed up a hand in goodbye and Ash returned the gesture.

Their conversation mostly went in one ear and out the other, though. I was still frazzled by what Paul had said.

I think most everyone else was as well, because nobody else spoke and Ash just softly asked everyone to help clean up the table and clear out.

Nobody said anything, but we cleaned up and exited the building. Even Brock looked off kilter.

I just followed Ash as he led the way back towards the dorms. When he got to the point where the paths to different dorms split off, he just stopped.

We all stopped and looked up at him. I saw that everyone else was as upset as I was.

"Ash…" Again, Max was the one to speak. "Do you think… What Paul said… Could it be –"

"No," Ash said firmly. I stared at him. He looked confident. "Paul was just messing with you, testing –"

Max cut Ash off. "But everything he said about the old Ash was true!"

Ash shook his head. "Maybe. But the conclusion he tried to show you was false. Paul was testing your clarity. He mentioned more than once that you guys were letting sentiment cloud your mind. Even if it's true that the old Ash wanted to be a Pokémon Master more than anything, he wouldn't want to do it this way. He wouldn't want to get there using a memory loss that conveniently improved his skills. He would want to get there by working towards it, having adventures, building experiences, and doing it with his friends."

I felt like a fog was rising.

"Even if I, like this, became a Pokémon Master, it would mean nothing. It's weird to think about, but that dream, the dream to be a Pokémon Master, isn't mine – it's the old Ash's. And achieving it only means anything if the old Ash does it himself. _That's_ why it's imperative we get my memories back, and _that's_ why, deep down, you all want me to get my memories back. So that your friend Ash can move towards his dreams the right way."

Tears rose to my eyes. How could I have been so stupid…

"Thank you, Ash." Brock sighed deeply. "I – We're so sorry, that we thought even for a moment –"

"Don't be." Ash smiled genuinely. "Even if the feeling was misdirected, its source was genuine. All of you considered the option because you cared about the old me. It's that caring that makes you my best friends. Paul's point is just that you should be clear in your purpose. Losing the old Ash must've stirred up a lot of feelings, but don't let them confuse you or cloud your focus."

As a group I felt like we let out a breath.

Ash smiled again. "We've all had a stressful day. Let's call it for the night and get back to everything tomorrow. Thank you all for everything. Good night." Ash turned and walked off to his room.

We all stood, staring after him. With a few simple, clear words from the heart, he'd restored our faith in our feelings, our mission, and ourselves.

Some things never change.

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 08/02/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


	14. Bringing in the Big Guns

Author's Note: Point-of-View Change

Dawn's Point-of-View

* * *

I strode out of the building and the morning sun glared into my face. I stretched, enjoying the warmth on my skin.

I checked my Pokétch. 8:20. Should be ample time to grab some breakfast and get over to Pokémon Seminar. I smoothed out my skirt and made sure my hair was in order before starting the walk to the cafeteria.

"Dawn! Wait up!" I turned to see May running up to me, Max on her heels.

"Meeting up right before breakfast two days in a row." I grinned. "Coincidence?"

"I think not." May winked. "Although it may have more to do with my sleeping-in and your getting-ready than fate."

I laughed. May was always teasing me about how much attention I paid to appearance. It was all in good fun, though. She told me she envied me for it, and I told her I envied her for being more laidback.

"And I'm stuck in the middle," grumbled Max.

May nudged him. "Alright big guy, from now on you can head on over to breakfast as soon as you're done getting ready. No more waiting for me."

Max scoffed. "If I didn't knock on your door, you'd be late every day. Accept it – I'm basically your alarm clock."

Max tossed a hand over his shoulder and ran to the cafeteria ahead of us. I giggled and May shook a fist after him playfully.

I strode next to May in silence. But this was the first time we'd been alone since we found out about Ash, and I had to know…

"May?"

"Hmm?" She turned her head.

"How've you been dealing with this whole Ash-losing-his-memory thing?" The concept was still weird to think about. I just wanted to know how she felt, though. Was she as hopeful as I was that this could be remedied?

May sighed deeply and her gait slowed. I felt bad for turning her morning sour so quickly, but she nodded as if she expected the question. "I haven't, to be honest. I felt kind of empty – numb and hollow, you know – when I found out. Yesterday moved so fast and I didn't have time to really think deeply about it. When I got into bed last night I tried not to think about it. Luckily, I was tired enough that I fell right asleep." May smiled ruefully. "At least, I thought it was lucky. But I had dreams. I… I don't really want to talk about them right now, if you don't mind."

"Of course. I understand." I said quickly. I'd had dreams, too. Or nightmares, to be precise. I relived Ash losing his memory maybe ten times over the course of the night. Only it occurred at various points when we were traveling together. I'd had one where he forgot why he was going for a gym battle; one where I won a contest and then he asked me who I was; one where I said good morning and he didn't recognize me; and the worst of all, one where I was wishing him goodbye as he returned to Kanto – I raised my hand for a high five, and he just stared back blankly. And then when I woke up, I had to relive the real memory of what actually happened.

"Since I woke up," I tuned back in, "I've just had this dull ache that won't go away." May placed a hand over her heart absently, as if that's where it was aching. "And all morning I've been trying to convince myself that this is just a challenge we have to overcome and that we'll definitely restore Ash. But I… I'm…"

Not sure.

I could recognize the desperation from May, because it felt like my own. The awful 'what if?'

I wanted to spill my guts and empathize with May, but I was already choking up. I managed: "No need to worry. I'm sure we'll sort this out." It wasn't convincing.

I knew May was subdued because she didn't rush to get food as soon as we entered the cafeteria. I wasn't all that hungry myself. But we both got food anyway and made our way to the group.

"May. Dawn." Ash nodded at us in greeting.

"Morning, Ash." May said.

"Hey, Ash." I said. I met eyes with him and suddenly couldn't help myself. "Did you remember… anything…?" I trailed off, realizing how desperate it sounded.

Ash made a sad smile at me. "Sorry Dawn, no dreams and no flashbacks. I'm still blank."

Everyone continued eating in silence. I looked down at my food and did the same, for the most part.

I couldn't help stealing glances at Ash every once in a while, though.

I guess fresh eyes do make a difference, because new Ash suddenly looked a lot different from old Ash.

His hair was combed, his face looked fresh, and his movements were smooth and confident. The clerk-lady's words from yesterday forced their way into my mind, and I found myself agreeing.

I know. I'm an awful person. Here Ash was, in the middle of a crisis, and instead of focusing on how to help him, I was checking him out.

Blame my hormones.

I kept stealing glances until Ash caught me looking once. I could have made it look natural, but I was so convinced I was in the wrong that I immediately blushed and snapped my head down.

Well, new Ash was now probably convinced he had a psychopathic friend.

At 8:45 promptly, Ash stood up. He looked around. "If everyone's finished, let's make our way over." He said.

We moved as a sort of herd through the campus, huddled protectively around Ash, as if somehow we could shield him from the world. I gritted my teeth. The time for protection was before he lost his memory. The scariest thought was…. What if I could have prevented whatever happened in the first place by accompanying Ash back to Pallet?

I shivered. It was too haunting to think about.

I sat tight through Pokémon Seminar, trying to lose myself in Dr. Garez's lecture. I smoothed my skirt over and glanced at Ash. Funny thing was, he was paying attention. Used to be, Ash couldn't sit through anything resembling a lecture. He would shift often, bursting with energy and uncontrollable excitement. Sitting down and paying attention was just not how he did things.

But now he was a model student. He sat straight in his chair, eyes forward, rapt at attention. He might've even been taking notes.

I shivered. It was too weird to think about.

After the seminar, we split up. I was a little reluctant to let Ash out of my sight, but really, who was I kidding? He could take care of himself.

Sure enough, when lunch came around, he was still alive.

During lunch, Ash struck up a conversation about the newest development. Paul's "offer." He was intent on meeting Paul where he had asked in order to see what the guy had planned. He asked what we thought.

Everyone turned to Brock and me. We had been the ones who had the most experience with Paul. I sighed. Paul still wasn't at the top of my 'most-trustworthy' list, but…

"It's worth a shot." I said.

Brock backed me up. "Dawn's right. We've got to try everything. And Paul sounded sincere enough yesterday."

And that was that. Ash said we'd head over there together after Battle Seminar. I was curious as to what Paul had planned, but also wary. Hopefully, I'd gotten Ash into something good and not potentially damaging.

In Poffin Baking, I could barely concentrate. I remembered what Ash had said about focus, and I threw my all into baking. But by the time I thought I baked a good batch, Piplup refused to taste any more of my creations for fear of self-destruction.

The teacher approved, though, so she gave me the rest of the class to myself.

I excused myself to the ladies' room. When I got there, I just stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection.

No, not out of narcissism.

I wondered about what made me, me. And losing my memory – what exactly would that do to my person?

I wondered these things for two reasons. Firstly, because it bothered me to no end that I hadn't realized what was up with Ash until he told me. Nothing about the way he looked or "felt" suggested to me that he had sustained memory loss.

Surely there should've been a way to tell without asking him! I just… I thought I knew him so well…. And to not have the ability to tell when he was really himself, was… disturbing.

Secondly, I wanted to find out exactly how much of a person would be wiped out with memory loss. Was it really like we assumed so far? Everything gone but the basest instincts? Or was there more left behind, that a little prodding could unlock?

I stared hard at myself in the mirror, trying to take that image of me and dissociate my persona from it. What would remain? How would it feel?

I gripped the sink hard and furrowed my brow, trying to do the projection, until my mind nearly turned to mush from the confusion. I wouldn't have given up, but I saw that my eyes were starting to turn red and I was starting to choke up. I took a deep breath and washed my face.

I had straightened out my clothes and was wrestling with my hair when the door opened. I pretended not to notice.

"Dawn?" I turned. Misty was walking towards me with a half-smile. "Imagine seeing you here." She winked.

I gave a small laugh. "Yeah, imagine that." It wasn't a good idea. My voice came out raw and choked, and Misty caught it immediately.

I looked down, embarrassed. Caught sobbing in the girls' bathroom. I had already figured out Misty was a tough person. Earning her respect wouldn't be easy and I'd already messed it up by looking like some fragile baby.

To my surprise, Misty's hand gently came around and lifted my chin. She met eyes with me in the mirror. Her eyes were intense, but when she spoke, her voice was gentle.

"Here, let me help you with your hair." Humming, Misty ran her hands through my hair, straightening it out and rearranging my clips.

I stood silently, enjoying the comfort of her mothering.

Finally she finished, and placed my beanie over my head for good measure. I looked in the mirror and found my hair better than when I'd done it myself this morning.

"Oh! You look so cute, Dawn!" Misty gushed. I flushed at her compliment and then harder still for getting flustered at all over something so petty. Then Misty added: "Feel better, now?"

My eyes snapped up to meet hers in the mirror. The question was vague enough to be interpreted in more than one context, and I realized suddenly that Misty was preserving my privacy while comforting me. She was trying not to intrude and still help me out. I felt my heart well in gratitude.

"Misty…"

"Here." She whispered.

She brought her hands around me and embraced me.

"He'll be ok. We'll make sure of it ourselves." Misty said.

I felt comfort and an overwhelming friendship in the hug, but it was also vulnerable. I thought suddenly that maybe Misty was in need of comfort, too. She just didn't want to show it and make me worry.

I tightened my grip around Misty and we took comfort in each other.

"And when we get him back, we'll clobber him for making us worry, ok?" I managed a giggle through my sniffles. By Arceus, I loved this girl already.

"Hey." Came another voice. Misty and I pulled apart – quickly, but not too quickly to spoil our moment. We were so caught up we hadn't noticed the door open. "Mind if I join in?" May! Misty and I met eyes. I sent her a quick thank you. She smiled and winked at me.

"You know, these are hard times." May said. She opened her arms and looked at us. "This girl would like some love, too."

Misty and I laughed and the three of us shared a group hug.

When I left to go back to class, I felt a lot better about everything. More confident and more hopeful. And I also knew that I could confide in Misty and May 100%. Ash knew how to pick 'em, that's for sure.

After a short while it was time for the Battle Seminar. I headed over and quickly found my friends in the bleachers. Today, Ash sat with us. During the lecture, which was about battle framework and choosing Pokémon, Ash and Paul made eye contact several times.

I thought that meant Paul would come over and talk to Ash after class, but he rushed out quickly afterwards. Maybe to make arrangements for whatever/whomever he had talked about yesterday.

"Well," Ash said after the bell rang. "Let's not waste time."

We went to the front desk, where the welcoming-lady/victim-from-yesterday was. Misty, May, and I tried to insist on asking for directions, but Ash insisted he could do it himself.

Hmph. As if we thought he couldn't. The guy was still as dense as ever.

Sure enough, the lady's eyes lit up when Ash approached and she looked over his shoulder to meet eyes with us. I tried to put on as stoic a face I could without looking hostile, but then Brock asked me if I was having an ulcer, so I stopped.

Meanwhile, the lady at the desk kept making disturbingly prolonged eye contact, giggling girlishly, and tucking her hair behind her ear, all the while looking intensely absorbed in Ash. As she had the other day, she pulled a campus map off the table and circled something, showing it to Ash. He nodded in understanding.

Then she took his hand…. And scribbled something on it?!

I wanted to stamp my foot, but that would have been unladylike, so I refrained. May was frowning and I could hear Misty seething.

Ash said something to the lady and started turning around. And she… blew him a kiss?! And then she… made him a 'call me' sign with her hand?!

Ash just laughed and waved, walking back towards us. The lady at the desk then waved at us girls and winked, fanning her face. I wish she were saying it was a hot day out and not expressing how attractive she found Ash.

I didn't have time to mull over it because Ash walked up with the map and started leading us to the Battle Area. We walked for a good five minutes.

"Wow," Max said. "Is that the one?"

His amazement was directed at a glass building in front of us. Inside, we could see Pokémon battles raging on each floor. Wow, indeed. What a cool setup.

"That's the one," Ash affirmed, putting his map away.

We hurried into the lobby, where there was nothing but benches and machines. There were a few people around, lounging and talking on the benches. The machines were a variety – vending, healing, information, PC, etc. At the far end of the room was an elevator and just next to it on the wall was an LCD monitor.

"How do we know where to meet Paul?" I asked.

Ash nodded. "Apparently, there's a register we can look in…" He walked up to the LCD and typed his name into the search box.

Sure enough, there was a match registered under Paul's name. Reporting time was in a few minutes. And the location was floor B8.

We piled into the elevator and Max pressed the 'B8' button. The elevator lurched downward.

"Interesting," Brock said. "Looks like they have floors underneath, too."

We went 8 floors below ground level and got out of the elevator. In front of us was a familiar rectangular battlefield.

I looked around in awe. The space was made to look like a cave: stalactites, stalagmites, the works. But luckily it didn't feel stuffy like a real cave, and it looked like there were comfortable seats for viewing off to the sides.

Like a cave, parts of the field were well-lit while other parts were darker.

Ash stood at the near edge of the field while the rest of us took seats on the benches to his right.

"So. You came."

Out of the darkness of the other side of the field came Paul.

Ash grinned. "Of course. How could I not?" They exchanged a quick handshake.

Then Paul went and sat on the bench… on the opposite side of the field. Wow, come on. Is it a crime to be social?

"Quite a rival Ash picked up there." Misty said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it." I quipped.

Ash was looking at Paul inquisitively. Paul gestured towards the shadows he'd come out of.

"Your opponent."

Footsteps began approaching from the other side of the field. Ash's brow furrowed and he walked towards the center to meet the person halfway.

When the person came out of the shadows, I gasped. Brock did, as well.

When Paul said he was going to bring a person capable of jogging Ash's mind…

The beautiful blonde stepped regally into the center of the field, facing Ash.

Brock fidgeted. "This is either going to be really good, or really bad."

He got that right.

"Hello, and thank you for coming." Ash said. "My name is Ash Ketchum."

"I'm well aware. I wish it were under different circumstances, but it's good to see you again, Ash. But from what Paul told me, you probably don't remember me."

"No," Ash shook his head, "I'm sorry."

"That's alright. I'm here to see if I can fix that, after all. Well, it's nice to meet you again," the woman extended her hand to Ash, and he took it in a firm handshake. "And I suppose, considering the circumstances, a full introduction is in order."

The woman cleared her throat and looked dead into Ash's eyes.

"I am the Champion of the Sinnoh region's Elite Four. My name is Cynthia."

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 08/09/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


	15. Fire and Ice

Author's Note

Dawn's POV

* * *

"I am the Champion of the Sinnoh region's Elite Four. My name is Cynthia," she said.

Misty snapped her fingers. "I knew she looked familiar!"

Max looked star struck. "She's… a Champion?"

"And she knows Ash?" May asked.

"Yeah," I filled her in. "We met her during our travels in Sinnoh. As I'm sure you can understand, Ash got involved in some pretty serious evil-fighting in Sinnoh. So we met Cynthia and teamed up with her quite a few times." I'd never thought about it much before, but I was suddenly struck by the fact that I'd met and worked so closely with a League Champion. Not many people could boast that.

"But a Champion…" Misty said. "We've seen that the new Ash is great, but to face someone of that caliber…"

"Remember, the purpose of the battle is to jog Ash's memory, not really to see who wins." Brock put in.

"Tell that to them," Tracey said.

I turned my attention back towards the field and found that Cynthia and Ash were still facing each other. They were silent, looking into each other's eyes. The intensity of it was dominating the room.

Finally Ash broke the silence. "Champion. It is an honor to meet you, and an even greater honor to battle with you."

One of Cynthia's eyes was covered by her bangs, but the other was a powerful, stormy gray. She stared at Ash for a second. "I have many questions to ask you, Ash, but this battle should come first. I hope I can get through to you with it. If you really are honored by me, put your all into this match."

Cynthia and Ash shared a nod, and I somehow felt that the two were exchanging more than what I could hear out loud. On one hand it was really cool.

And on the other hand I just felt jealous. But I'm being petty.

The two went to opposite sides of the field. Cynthia was in relative darkness on her side. Paul stood up from his seat opposite us.

He cleared his throat and looked at Brock. "I know technically you're the most fit here to be referee –"

Brock held up a hand. "Your plan, your show, Paul."

Paul nodded. He extended his arms to either side. "This is a one-on-one battle between the Sinnoh region Champion Cynthia and Trainer Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. When one side's Pokémon is unable to battle, the other side will be declared the winner." Paul paused and checked both sides. "Do both sides agree to these rules?"

Nods from both.

"Then," Paul raised his hands suddenly, "begin!"

Cynthia moved first. "Glaceon! Battle dance!" The Ice-type evolution of Eevee appeared on the field gracefully.

"I didn't know Cynthia had a Glaceon." I muttered.

"I'm glad she does!" May piped up.

I grinned at May beside me. She had her hands clapped together, eager to see how Cynthia would battle with her Glaceon.

Ash reached back and pulled out a Poké Ball. He weighed it in his hand carefully, looking across at Glaceon.

"Bets?" Max asked.

"Charizard or Primeape would make the most sense to get Ash a type advantage," Tracey said. "But…"

Brock grunted. "But in this battle, all bets are off."

I watched as Ash threw his Ball into the middle of the field silently. It snapped back to his hand, and Charizard appeared on the field, raring to go.

Hm. Ash had a type advantage and it looked like Glaceon was one of Cynthia's newer and "weaker" Pokémon. This would be interesting.

"The first move is yours." Cynthia said.

Ash nodded slightly. "Start by getting off the ground, Charizard. Then use Leer."

Charizard lifted off the ground with beats of his powerful wings. The closed room contained the winds and I had to hold on to my beanie to keep it from flying off.

"Cynthia gives him the first move, and he uses Leer? Isn't there something better he could do?" Max asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Tracey said. "Brock?"

Brock shook his head. "Don't count on me for commentary, guys. I get the feeling I'm going to have trouble following this one myself, much less explaining what's going on."

Oh, great.

Charizard began using Leer, and Cynthia quickly called out her own command. "Glaceon, Hail!"

Glaceon's body began glowing light blue and thick fog began forming.

"Charizard, use your wings. Don't let that fog close around you."

As snow and hail started falling out of the fog, Charizard flapped his wings mightily, pushing both away. It was a good defensive mechanism, but I hoped Ash knew that's all it was; even if he hit Glaceon with its own hail, it wouldn't do any damage to the Ice-type.

Hmm… Surely Cynthia knew Charizard could avoid the hail. There had to be something else. I pulled out my Pokédex. Next to Brock, it would be the next best thing.

"Glaceon, don't let up! Follow with Blizzard!"

I cursed. My Pokédex had just reported something bad for Ash. While hailing, the accuracy of Blizzard rose to 100%. No matter what, Charizard was about to get hit with some serious cold.

"Fire Spin. Twist."

Charizard responded immediately. As the unavoidable Blizzard came in, flames shot from Charizard's mouth as he spun in circles, until he was engulfed in them. Blizzard still did damage, but the fire diluted it.

"Go straight into Steel Wing."

"Steel Wing should be super-effective against Glaceon!" May said.

Charizard flew towards Glaceon, steam and water forming in its wake. Cynthia didn't call anything, but suddenly a wave of snow passed over where Glaceon was standing and the foxlike creature just disappeared.

I heard Max punch one hand with a fist. "Glaceon's Snow Cloak ability! It raises its chance of evasion during a hailstorm!"

Ugh. Hail.

Charizard roared, having lost sight of its target, and came to an unbalanced halt on Cynthia's side of the field. The momentary lapse in bearings was enough for the hailstorm to take advantage of Charizard and suddenly he was obscured in ice and snow.

Glaceon reappeared towards Ash's side of the field.

"Ice Fang!" Cynthia called.

I felt my heart speed up in my chest. There was no way Charizard could see where Glaceon was coming from. And Ice Fang had a chance of freezing the opponent…

"Straight up, Charizard. Dragon Tail."

It was clever. Up needed no bearings. Charizard flew straight up and slammed a glowing blue tail into the ceiling. A large number of stalactites, some even frozen, rained down from above.

Glaceon was just about to stop its attack when Cynthia spoke up. "Keep charging Ice Fang! Keep up Snow Cloak and augment it with Quick Attack to avoid the debris!"

Glaceon flexed its legs and then jumped up powerfully. The Fresh Snow Pokémon kept appearing and disappearing around and on top of the falling debris, each time higher and closer to Charizard, and each time with its mouth glowing a brighter blue.

"Streamline your body and dive diagonally, Charizard. Give Glaceon only one point to connect with you, and make that point a Mega Punch."

Charizard obeyed and dived. I caught one more frame of motion as Glaceon appeared, body tensed and fangs bright blue, and Charizard flew straight into it, fist in front and glowing bright white.

The force of impact caused a shock wave of such acute power it sliced through and ended the hailstorm and fog. As the field became clear the two Pokémon came into view. Charizard's Mega Punch was squarely in Glaceon's mouth and Glaceon's fangs were enclosed around Charizard's fist.

Both Pokémon looked like they took damage, though how much I couldn't be exactly sure. In any case, both were in pain and locked together as they hurled towards the ground – Charizard had approached from above and had mass on his side, so he was driving the descent.

"Use the descent for Submission, Charizard."

"Submission is a fighting-type move," Misty spoke up, "so it should be super-effective."

"If it works," I said.

Before Glaceon could detach its fangs from Charizard's fist, the winged Pokémon brought his other arm around to secure Glaceon from moving. Then the big lizard began spinning in circles as it fell toward the ground.

"Don't let him, Glaceon!" Cynthia countered. "Freeze up your fur!"

"Huh?" Max asked.

May filled everyone in. "Glaceon has a biological ability where it can freeze its fur to make it stand up like sharp needles. Kind of like Jolteon, only with ice instead of electricity."

Sure enough, Glaceon's fur started turning into sharp, icy quills that jabbed into Charizard's body. The Flame Pokémon roared in pain and was forced to loosen his grip. Glaceon could suddenly move again.

Cynthia seized the opportunity. "Now get out of there! Give him an Icy Wind to the face!"

Glaceon opened its mouth and a blue light began to glow from it.

"Counter with DragonBreath." Ash called in the nick of time.

A green cone of air blew out from Charizard's mouth to meet the blue blizzard from Glaceon. My Pokédex reported that under normal circumstances DragonBreath was the stronger move, but Glaceon had released its attack earlier. The two attacks met uncomfortably close to Charizard, but the combined power of DragonBreath and gravity kept Icy Wind at bay.

If both Pokémon were on the ground the stalemate could have continued, but they were in the air; without support, the two Pokémon jetted backward. Glaceon rammed into the ground and Charizard into the ceiling. Clouds of dust flew up and debris crashed onto the field.

I held my breath. Would this be it?

The dust cleared. Glaceon and Charizard were both up, but on opposite sides of the field from their trainers. They stared at each other, unblinking, unmoving.

The field was totaled. There was a depression where Glaceon landed and a crater where Charizard had hit the ceiling. All the stalactites from the ceiling were gone, leaving a plain, rough, rock roof. The stalactites were littered over the field in a layer in such a way that you'd have to wade through it to get around.

I suspected Charizard could fly up above and Glaceon was light and nimble enough to walk on top of the layer of rock without falling in, but the debris looked wickedly sharp in places and the ceiling looked like it had cracks on it. I was a little worried for the safety of Ash, Cynthia, and their Pokémon.

But the two trainers were so absorbed they didn't bat an eye to the issue.

"Hai–" Cynthia was cut off by the screeching of a siren.

I looked around, bewildered. I noticed red cones in the sides of the walls flashing with light. An electronic board suddenly descended from above the elevator. It flashed "STOP BATTLE MOMENTARILY" in large letters.

"Huh?" I said.

A computerized voice suddenly came over a loudspeaker. "Please stop the battle momentarily." It said. "Our systems have assessed that the field is not safe to battle upon. Please call your Pokémon off the boundaries of the field momentarily while the area is made safe."

Ash and Cynthia looked at each other.

"Come off the field, Charizard." Charizard obliged.

"You, too, Glaceon." Cynthia said.

Once the two Pokémon were off the field, the loudspeaker started up again: "Thank you for your cooperation. Please wait thirty seconds before resuming the battle."

A large number "30" appeared on the board and then a "29" as it counted down.

Ash and Cynthia stood by the field, watching and waiting.

"Max." Ash called and gestured for the little guy to come over.

Max looked surprised, but he walked over to Ash. But what could Ash want Max for?

Ash whispered something into Max's ear. When he was done, Max looked up quizzically at Ash's face, obviously not understanding something. But Ash just nodded, as if telling Max to do it anyway. Max shrugged in return and moved quickly to the elevator, getting in and pressing a button for another floor.

What was that about?

I wanted to ask badly, but the tension from the battle was still present and nobody wanted to break the glass-like silence.

The screen showed "10."

"We sure did a number on the field, eh, Ash?" Cynthia asked playfully.

"That we did." Ash grinned back.

And boy, did they. The field was overhauling itself. A metal roof was sliding under the rock ceiling and the field was opening up at the center so each half could fold inward to drop the debris off.

5 seconds.

"Ready to finish this?" Cynthia asked.

"You bet," Ash said.

The field slammed back into place. It was now a plain, smooth, rock field. Above, the roof was flat steel all the way across. I guess the field was boring now, but I was kind of glad. Partially because there were no more sharp objects that could potentially impale, and partially because the new field threw the focus back onto the Pokémon and what they could do. Felt a little more like a contest battle.

The counter hit 0. A green "GO" flashed on the screen.

"Get back in there, Glaceon!"

"Let's go, Charizard!"

I looked at Ash and was pleasantly startled to see he was fired up and smiling widely. It wasn't a surprising look on the old Ash, but I hadn't seen it on the new Ash. He looked like he was being pushed, and he was... enjoying it. He looked good out there, caught up in the heat of battle.

I looked over at Cynthia and did a double take. The Champion, who was usually laidback and calm during battles, was shifting from foot to foot excitedly, fists clenched. She was enjoying this just as Ash was.

"You've got me fired up, Ash. You sure you're ready for what you got yourself into?" Cynthia challenged.

Ash grinned. "Right back at you."

Ash meant it innocently. But Cynthia's eyes widened; she was caught off-guard. I guess she was so used to being treated as the superior in her battles that being challenged like a peer was plain surprising.

A soft, childish grin spread on Cynthia's face. She muttered something to herself I couldn't hear and then her voice reached normal level again. "Let's see, then! Glaceon, move in with Bite!"

"Bite?" Tracey asked. "Why risk a physical move?"

"I think I know." I said, almost surprising myself. As Glaceon danced around trying to get Charizard, I explained my theory to the others.

"See," I began intelligently, pointing at my Pokédex. "Glaceon's most powerful move is a physical move called 'Last Resort.' But in order to use it, Glaceon first has to use all its other moves at least once during the battle. I don't think Cynthia cares much about the effectiveness of Bite; she's just trying to use Glaceon's other attacks so she can finish Charizard with Last Resort."

I thought it was a fairly good theory. Everyone else seemed impressed, even Brock. "You know, Dawn, I think you may have just read Cynthia's strategy."

Yesss, Brock approved. I might as well have gotten an "I'm a Genius" sticker.

"Now let's see if Ash can figure it out," he said.

What? Come on, with all due respect to myself, if I can figure it out, Ash can.

Charizard roared in pain and I saw that Bite had finally landed – Glaceon had caught Charizard's left leg. The Flame Pokémon quickly shook the Fresh Snow Pokémon back. Luckily, it looked like Charizard didn't suffer a flinch.

But if Ash let Cynthia use all of Glaceon's other moves like that…

"Glaceon, Sand Attack!" Sand blew into Charizard's face, decreasing his accuracy.

Only four more, by my count, before Cynthia could use Last Resort.

"Get him while he's blind, with Ice Shard!" She feigned it well to look like a planned-out attack but I knew better – there was no way Sand Attack would obscure an incoming Ice Shard. Sure enough, Charizard's Ember incinerated the shards. Cynthia acted like she was disappointed.

Three more.

"Glaceon, up your defense! Barrier!" A blue wall shot up that increased Glaceon's defense.

I gulped. Two left.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!"

No! He was practically setting himself up!

Cynthia grinned. "Mirror Coat!"

Ash's response was fast. "Fly in with the Flamethrower, Charizard!"

As the Flamethrower hit Glaceon, it braved the damage and started glowing with a reflective coating.

By this time however, Charizard was standing right in front of Glaceon. Which didn't make sense… Mirror Coat was about to send Flamethrower back with double the punch and standing closer would make it worse.

"Charizard, enclose Glaceon in Steel Wing, quickly!"

Just as Glaceon's reflective coating fired back the amped-up flamethrower, Charizard's wings came up like a curtain, tightly enclosing Glaceon.

Cynthia's eyes widened.

I gasped. Ash had created a wall of steel around Glaceon just as it shot back a powerful Flamethrower. Steel conducts and transfers heat very well, which meant that Charizard's Steel Wing was creating a sauna for Glaceon. And as an Ice-type Pokémon… Well, let's just say that sauna would not have any positive health effects.

Cynthia suddenly looked off-kilter. "Glaceon, get out of there now! Quick Attack!"

Glaceon jumped up and out of the flame bath, creating distance between it and Charizard. For a second, Charizard looked like he didn't know how the foxy little guy had escaped.

"There, catch him off-guard!" There was only one attack besides her trump card she hasn't used… "Ice Beam!" Cynthia called.

Glaceon stood, opened its mouth, and… did nothing. Charizard regained his bearings and turned his attention to Glaceon.

Cynthia looked puzzled. "Glaceon, I called for –" A look of realization dawned on her. "Oh, no."

I realized it looking at Glaceon's fur. Rather than the beautiful light-blue, sleek look it usually had, it looked dark, heavy, and… soggy.

Ash and Charizard had turned up the heat so much and raised Glaceon's temperature so high above the freezing point that its ice capabilities had become incapacitated. Glaceon had opened it mouth and produced an Ice Beam as Cynthia had asked, but it was miniscule because it couldn't built up due to the heat.

Wait… but if it had technically used Ice Beam, even if it was imperceptible, that cleared the way for…

"Don't worry about the ice, Glaceon!" Cynthia called. "Now! Last Resort!"

An aura of power began building around Glaceon. After a few seconds of charging, Glaceon started trotting, continually building up energy until it broke out into a full run. When fully powered up it sprang into a jump to get the best angle with gravity in order to drive into Charizard.

Ash opened his mouth to counter.

"Don't let Charizard get you! Augment with Quick Attack!"

"DragonBreath, Charizard!"

Brock slapped his knee. "DragonBreath! Its accuracy is 100%, so as long as Charizard launches it before Glaceon hits him, it doesn't matter how fast Glaceon is moving, the attack has to connect!"

"And..." Tracey added. "This is the second time Ash has used DragonBreath. The first time it didn't paralyze Glaceon, so this time it has… a 51% chance of paralysis."

Sure enough, the green stream of air connected with Glaceon and shot the Pokémon back and up; it was clearly covered in green static, indicating it was paralyzed.

"Try for Last Resort again, Glaceon!" Cynthia called desperately.

"Let's finish this." Ash raised his hand towards Charizard while Glaceon flew through the air.

"Charizard, Overheat!"

I stood up involuntarily. Brock, Tracey, May, and Misty stood as well.

This was the first use of Overheat during this match, so it'd be at its most powerful. Against a paralyzed Ice-type this late in the battle, even if it was Cynthia we were talking about, Overheat would…

As Overheat connected, I was vaguely aware of the elevator doors opening to my left. In my peripheral vision I absently noticed a small blur moving across to Ash.

But everyone's eyes and focus, including my own, were on Glaceon. Overheat had hit it dead on, engulfed it, and thrown it back further. The Pokémon looked singed as it arced over towards Ash's side of the field.

I noticed Glaceon's eyes were shut, probably in pain, but it was hard to make a call on its status until it fell to the ground.

Everyone's eyes were glued to Glaceon's figure as it fell towards the ground, making no attempt to right itself or land upright.

10 feet.

5 feet.

"Hold it."

The voice was deep and commanding, and it sliced across the lull I had fallen into, watching Glaceon fall. Everyone looked to the source of the sound.

It was Ash.

He had his hand outstretched. I wondered what it was about, but then I remembered Glaceon and looked. It was on the ground, and it was… covered with a white towel?

I remembered Ash's outstretched hand and realized he must have thrown it. Wait, but…

Nobody could see Glaceon's condition. Everyone looked at the towel and then at Ash's hand, dumbfounded.

Since Paul was the referee, he had to gather himself to call the battle, but he seemed to be having a hard time. He kept looking back and forth and twisting his mouth as if to ask a question. Then he pulled himself together.

"Ash and Charizard are eliminated from the match by means of a Technical Knock Out. Cynthia and Glaceon are the winners of this match."

* * *

Author's Note

Next Update: 08/25/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


	16. An Exercise in Logic

Author's Note

Dawn's POV

* * *

A breadth of emotions flashed across Cynthia's face, as if she couldn't decide what to feel. Surprise, bewilderment, realization, and outrage all flared for a moment before she finally settled on confusion.

I, for one, was just confused.

I rewound the situation in my brain, following the details. When Charizard had hit Glaceon with Overheat the elevator doors had opened. I looked now and saw that Max was standing by Ash. He looked as confused as the rest of us, but he must've been the one to bring the white towel. That's what Ash had asked him to do during the interval.

Which meant… Ash had predicted how things would turn out?

"What's the meaning of this, Ash?" Cynthia was trying to keep her voice level. "I thought we agreed to go all out." She was approaching Ash tightly.

Ash had better have a good explanation, or he was about to get grilled.

Ash was standing coolly, arms crossed. "I forfeited the match. The referee called it – a technical knockout on Charizard. The battle is yours."

"Don't insult me!" Cynthia's jaw was clenched. She was nearing Glaceon, who hadn't moved since it hit the ground. "Why would you forfeit when the match's outcome was already decided?" As she said this she knelt to pick up the towel Ash had thrown, which was obscuring Glaceon's condition.

I leaned forward. Was Glaceon actually knocked out? It wasn't relevant to the official match's outcome, but to think –

"Referee!" Ash's voice cut across sharply, and Cynthia's arm stopped halfway to picking up the towel. "The match is over. Please ask that my opponent respect your call and return her Pokémon to her Poké Ball immediately." Ash looked at Paul meaningfully.

Paul looked unsure of himself, but he went with it. "As the referee, I'm going to ask that you do as he said, Cynthia."

The suspense was killing me. Ash had gotten his way with the match, though I had no idea why he'd want it this way. Why couldn't he just let us see Glaceon's condition?

Cynthia was gritting her teeth. She stood back up and slowly pulled out a Poké Ball. "In all my time as Champion…" She set her jaw and returned Glaceon to its Poké Ball without moving the towel from above it. "You better have a good explanation for this, Ash."

She looked up at him, eyes burning.

Ash only nodded. "Let's talk outside. It's stuffy in here." He returned Charizard to his Poké Ball and turned heel.

Stuffy? It wasn't stuffy in here at all.

Everyone followed him in silence.

The elevator ride was… awkward, to say the least. When we got out, Ash led us towards the doors.

Suddenly Paul broke off and went back to the LCD mounted next to the elevator. I glanced back once but couldn't tell what he was doing. He met back up with us outside.

Ten feet out the door Cynthia stopped and crossed her arms.

"Explain. Now."

I gulped. Cynthia did not look happy.

Paul cleared his throat suddenly. "I think I know." Cynthia turned to look at him, and Paul scratched his head. "I didn't realize it before, but setting up the match through the PokéCamp facility means I have to report to them on a few things. The time of the match, the number of Pokémon that'll be used, the trainers battling, and, lastly…"

I understood. Cynthia did, too. She set her jaw. "The outcome of the match."

Paul nodded. "I was told that when I registered, but I… well…" He trailed off awkwardly.

"Didn't think it would be an issue." Cynthia turned to Ash again. "You knew Paul would have to report on the outcome of the match. So you threw it to save me face."

I stared at Ash. His face was a mask, neither accepting nor denying the accusation.

He finally spoke. "The purpose of the match was to see whether it would help my memory. When I realized the battle wasn't helping, I threw the towel."

"But you could've won." Cynthia's brow was furrowed. "And – "

"And what?" Ash challenged. "I don't presume I could have won," Cynthia opened her mouth to protest, but Ash held up a hand. "But even if I had, what would it have been worth?"

Ash closed his eyes and sighed. "You are well worthy of your title, Champion. I do not want for it, and I did not wish for it to be sullied when it could be avoided. What I need right now is neither victories nor titles. Just answers."

I felt his pain in the words. I wondered how he could look so strong when he must feel so lost.

Cynthia looked stricken. "I understand." She dropped her arms to her sides. "My battle with you got me so fired up I lost my focus. I'm sorry. This must be hard for you."

Ash smiled. "There's no need for apologies, Champion. Thank you for that battle. Like I said, your title befits you."

Cynthia laughed. "Call me Cynthia, Ash. And I should thank you. I haven't had a match like that as far as I can remember."

Cynthia met Ash's eyes and he held her gaze. I smiled for the first three seconds, and then started feeling uneasy. Something about that stare was starting to remind me of that lady at the front desk…

Arceus, I was petty.

Cynthia cleared her throat. "Well, let's get moving. Paul told me the basics, but I want to hear the whole story and anything you guys have figured out so far. But first, it seems I need a few introductions. The gang seems a little bigger than it was in Sinnoh, eh?"

Cynthia got acquainted with Misty, Tracey, May, and Max. When she saw me, she greeted me with a hug, which was pleasantly surprising. Guess it would be kind of awkward to ask for her autograph now.

Paul and Cynthia then accompanied us back to Brock's room. Once there, we recounted everything we knew about Ash's situation.

When Ash was narrating his awakening in the forest, Cynthia stopped him. She looked deep in thought.

"That man who helped you when you woke up. Describe him again."

Ash nodded. "I was still groggy, but I remember he was wearing a brown trench coat and he looked really professional." Ash looked at Cynthia. "Why? Do you know who that is?"

Cynthia was holding her temples. "Ugh. The trench coat is ringing bells like crazy, but I can't recall the person exactly… Hm, do you remember anything else at all about his appearance? Or maybe something he said, word for word?"

Ash squinted tightly, trying to remember. "Uh… I remember… a tie. He was wearing a tie. And… and gray. There was gray – "

"Yes." Cynthia was standing up, excited. All eyes were on her. "His hair was gray."

It clicked. Of course!

"The person you met was a member of the International Police," Cynthia said. "A man by the name of Looker."

Across the room, I saw Brock put a hand to his head in realization.

"You two remember him, don't you?" Cynthia directed at Brock and me. We nodded, both slightly miffed we hadn't realized it ourselves.

"Sorry, Ash," I said regretfully. "We didn't realize it earlier."

Ash smiled kindly. "No worries."

Paul cut in. "To the point, why would a member of the International Police just happen to find Ash in the forest? And if he did know Ash, why not talk to him instead of just sending him off to Viridian?"

Good questions. I had no idea where we could get the answers, though. Unless we asked Looker himself. I was about to suggest this when Cynthia piped up again.

"Hm. We're getting somewhere, but do you guys have any other leads before we go after this one?"

I looked around at the rest of the group. We didn't have much, but…

"We called Ash's hometown – Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak. We're sure one of them has to know something, but we weren't able to reach either of them." Brock said.

"But we think Professor Oak could be around here, in PokéCamp." Max said excitedly. "So, we, uh… acquired… the attendance records to check."

'Acquired.' I sweat dropped. Cynthia looked amused.

"One other thing." Misty cut in. "The team of Pokémon Ash has on hand is formed completely of ones he let go at some point."

"Mm." Cynthia said. "Yes, and they came to him in Viridian City. Incredible."

"Yeah, we were wondering about how that was possible," Misty said. "Three of the Pokémon – Primeape, Charizard, and Squirtle – were left in the care of people by Ash. So if we call them and ask about how they left, it could shed some light."

I spoke up. "And while we're at it, if we pay a call to Looker, maybe he can answer our questions directly."

Cynthia nodded. "Sounds solid. Let's get down to the phones. Seems we have a lot of calls to make."

We got down there as fast as possible.

Brock first tried Mrs. Ketchum again.

Nothing.

Professor Oak again.

Nothing.

"Looker should be able to help us out," Cynthia said, typing in his number.

Nothing.

"How about Gary?" Brock asked.

Gary, I remembered, was Professor Oak's grandson and Ash's friend. They used to be fierce rivals before Ash beat Gary in the Johto League Silver Conference. After that, Gary took to research.

Misty frowned. "Gary would be with Professor Oak, right? And they're not picking up."

"Well," I cut in, "Gary was researching with Professor Rowan, actually, while we were travelling through Sinnoh."

Everybody's heads snapped towards me. Brock smiled. "You're right, Dawn. Good thinking."

Cha-ching! Now where's that sticker?

I dialed Professor Rowan's number and waited, hoping.

"Dawn, is that you?" The Professor's gruff voice came through the receiver as his face appeared onscreen.

"Professor Rowan!" I smiled. "It's good to see you!"

"Indeed." He gave a slight smile. "You look well. Did you call for anything in particular?"

I nodded seriously. "Yes. I was wondering whether you knew where Gary Oak was."

The Professor's brow lifted. "Gary? It's been several days since he left. His grandfather called saying both of them had received invitations to PokéCamp and that he should come immediately. It was quite an opportunity, so I let him go." The Professor scratched his chin. "I received an invitation as well, but I was quite busy with research so I passed on it."

"I see." I thought furiously. So it was confirmed that both Professor Oak and Gary had gotten invitations. Furthermore, it seemed both had planned on attending.

"Why?" Professor Rowan was watching me closely. "Is there anything the matter?"

I explained the situation.

"By Arceus," Professor Rowan looked stunned, which was no small matter. "Now that you mention it, I haven't talked to Oak in a while. I'll try getting in touch with him. If I manage to, I'll tell him to give you a call."

"Thanks, Professor."

He nodded. "Well, give Ash my regards, even if he isn't himself. And if you can't figure anything out," the Professor pursed his lips, "try a doctor. There should be plenty around the camp and they may be able to clue you in to at least the reason for the memory loss, if not a way to fix it."

Hm, a doctor. Why didn't I think of that?

"Beyond that, I'm afraid I can't help you." The Professor sighed, then smiled slightly. "But I'm sure you'll find a way. Good luck, Dawn."

I smiled back. "Thank you so much, Professor. You were a big help!"

We nodded to each other and hung up.

I spun around. Everyone looked thoughtful.

"Well, we got some solid info," Brock said. "But it only makes things more puzzling. If Gary is with Professor Oak, then one of them should definitely be able to pick up the phone."

"Unless they're both here." I offered. "It sounded like Professor Oak wanted Gary to come back to Pallet so they could leave for PokéCamp together."

"Now's the time to check those records, Max." May nudged him.

Max nodded, pulling off his backpack. "Let me set it up."

"While he's doing that, let me check in with the caretakers of some of Ash's Pokémon." Misty said, moving to the phone.

She dialed a number and after a few rings a pretty girl in a red outfit with wild, spiky green hair and fiery blue eyes appeared on screen.

"Hello? Misty! Is that you?" The girl asked.

"Liza!" Misty grinned. "It's been a while."

"Too long." Liza said. "Well, how are you? And Ash? And Brock, too, I guess?" She winked.

Behind Misty, Brock looked depressed. I held back a laugh. Misty didn't hold hers back.

"Well, Brock and I are alright. Ash… Well, I actually called about him. His Charizard, to be specific."

"Ah." Realization flashed across Liza's face. "I was hoping someone would talk to me about him."

Misty nodded. "He left Charicific Valley, didn't he?"

"Yes." Liza said seriously. "It was a few days ago. We'd finished training and dinner, and everyone was going to sleep, when Ash's Charizard started acting up."

Liza looked bewildered. "In all my time training Pokémon, I've never seen one get so distressed so quickly. First he just looked surprised. Then he looked angry, and he started stomping his feet and breathing fire. Nothing I did would calm him down." Liza looked slightly disappointed here, as if she regretted that she couldn't help Charizard. "Then he stopped suddenly, communicated something to Charla, and looked at me. He nodded once and then before I could say anything he flew off. Haven't seen him since." She looked disturbed.

Misty spoke softly. "It's ok, Liza. The good news is Charizard's safe and well."

"Really?" Liza said happily.

"Yup." Misty nodded. "Turns out he flew to Ash. He's 100% fine. Now Liza, was there anything that might have triggered Charizard into what he did?"

Liza shook her head. "That's the thing, there was nothing. I have no idea what to make of it."

Misty sighed, and then put on a grim smile. "Well, thanks so much, Liza. If you couldn't tell, there's something going on with Ash and we're trying to figure it out. When we do, I'll let you know, but for now I've got to go."

Liza nodded. "I figured something was up. Well, thanks for telling me about Charizard. Good luck with whatever it is, Misty."

They shared a smile and then ended the call. Misty went straight into the next one.

She talked to the Officer Jenny Ash had apparently left his Squirtle with. After that she talked to a man named Anthony Ash had left Primeape with.

Both reported stories similar to Liza's. The Pokémon had acted up suddenly without apparent provocation. They went into a fit and then without explanation took leave of whomever they were with, heading off with purpose in some direction, which, in retrospect, was the direction of Viridian City.

Misty came off the phone looking exhausted. She rubbed her forehead. "Well, that didn't help at all."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't say that, Misty. It was a good idea, and we filled in some info we didn't have before."

Misty didn't look comforted.

May looked thoughtful. "How is that possible? Three Pokémon in different places, reporting the same symptoms mysteriously, and then leaving to meet up with Ash, who'd had no contact with them? It's…"

"Impossible." Paul finished. "Either those three missed something, or they're lying."

Well, thanks for the diagnosis, Paul.

Misty pursed her lips. "All three of those trainers are very skilled, very sincere, and care very much about Pokémon. Don't be so quick to write that off – think about all the possibilities." She didn't look happy that Paul had insulted the three trainers.

"You're being sentimental." Paul said. Misty's face started getting stormy. Paul had better be careful. "Those are all the possibilities. If the Pokémon reacted, then something caused them to react. Fine, maybe your friends are trustworthy. But they must've missed something, because Pokémon don't just act up for no reason."

Misty's fists were clenched. I looked at May and Ash in turn, apprehensively. Ash was about to step forward when Max spoke up, completely unaware of the tension.

"I got it!" Everyone turned to him.

Misty and Paul glared at each other for a moment longer before following suit.

Max turned the screen of his gadget to us eagerly. "Here's the record of all the people invited to PokéCamp."

Everyone huddled around. I saw that it was a large chart. In the leftmost column were names sorted alphabetically. Then there were columns for 'Registered' and 'Attended', as well as columns for 'Trainer Class' and lastly for 'Room Number': the last two columns were only filled if the first two columns were checked.

"Search for the Professor and Gary," Brock said.

Max scrolled down until he came to the 'O' section. "Ok, let's see, O'Hara, O'Malley, a-ha, Oak."

Max pointed to an entry: 'Oak, Gary.' Right beneath it I saw 'Oak, Samuel.' I looked across the columns. Both had only one column checked: 'Registered'.

What?

Everyone exchanged glances, bewildered.

Gary and the Professor had both registered for PokéCamp, but… neither had attended?

Brock spoke up, ready with some good old logic.

"Professor Oak and Gary both got invitations to come here. Professor Oak was in Pallet Town already and got his invitation, and Gary's invitation must have been sent there as well. So the Professor called Gary back to Pallet to respond to the invitation and then leave for camp together. So they met in Pallet, and both registered, but… they didn't come. Which means, they should still be in Pallet. But… they're not picking up the phone, which means... what?"

Paul continued Brock's logic.

"Either their phone got disconnected, or something happened that's preventing them from picking up the phone."

Wow. Logic works. Cynthia picked it up.

"We should assume whatever's most probable, or whatever we have most evidence for."

Ok, reasonable.

Hm. Mrs. Ketchum wasn't picking up her phone either, but the possibility that both phones got disconnected was pretty slim.

Which meant… there was probably some common condition between Mrs. Ketchum and the Oaks that was causing both to not pick up.

The common factor between the Oaks and the Ketchums? They both lived in Pallet Town.

Wait.

The Pokémon Ash was missing, where were they stored? In Professor Oak's laboratory, in Pallet Town.

My blood chilled.

Apparently everyone was following the same line of logic.

Brock spoke slowly. "Ash, do you know which way you traveled out of the woods to get to Viridian?"

Ash ran a hand through his hair. "Let's see, it was… Well, as I was heading towards Viridian, the sun was coming up on my… right. So, I would have been heading north."

Brock clenched his fist. "Pallet's the only town south of Viridian. You were heading north towards Viridian, which means you must have been coming from the woods around Pallet."

"So?" Paul asked.

"So," Cynthia picked up, "Ash said Looker told him to go to Viridian and then headed in the opposite direction – south. Which means Looker was heading into Pallet."

"So," Brock finished logically, "a member of the International Police runs into Pallet while telling his friend to run in the opposite direction. Which means…"

Oh my Arceus.

Logic sucks.

Something had happened to Pallet Town.

* * *

Author's Note

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Next Update: 09/21/13, by 4:00 AM UTC


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